United Ramen v USA

On Thursday we made our way North where @unitedramen were hosting one of their popups at @Houseofwolf. We arrived early and took full advantage of the 241 cocktails and found the staff very friendly and knowledgeable.

Around 7:30 we headed upstairs where we were greeted by United Ramen crew and led to our tables. The decor was great with a Japanese and American flag to remind us why we were there and the dulcet tones of Johnny Cash were playing which set the ambiance. The dinner started with Sansho Pepper Popcorn nibbles which were supposed to leave the mouth with a numbing feeling - after stuffing handfuls into our mouth this sensation hit - WOW! The popcorn was delicious!

Before both the starters arrived the founder Aaron explained the purpose of the pop up (to get feedback before launching a restaurant) and that they wanted as much feedback as poss so our placemats acted as a questionnaire where we could rate everything we ate - this was great as it got the whole table talking and was also great market research for them. Shortly after the food started to flow and we were more than impressed at the quality, taste and portion size.

 Dish 1) Cold Starter: Sweet Potato & Crunchy Chicken Skin Maki (Roll)
We were presented with 6 Maki rolls accompanied with soy sauce and wasabi. These were the first rolls we have tried which aren't stuffed with seafood and they were delicious. You could really taste the sweet potato running through also.

Dish 2) Hot Starter: Spicy Buffalo Yakitori Hot Wings
The wings were really meaty and cooked perfectly covered in fab hot sauce! They were paired with the most incredible mayo which we all agreed should and need to be sold in supermarkets!

Dish 3: BBQ Pulled Chicken, Crispy Bacon and Spicy Buttered Sweetcorn Ramen (Chicken Bone Broth)
Here Japan and USA came together to form ramen like we have never tasted before. The bacon was really crispy, the sweetcorn so sweet and the chicken had a great BBQ twang to it. For us the dish had too many noodles but maybe that's cos we were already getting full from the previous 3 dishes! 2 members of our table had broths made without mushrooms and this made theirs a lot sweeter and nicer in our opinion to the regular broth. Apparently that's the first time they have cooked the broth without mushrooms so wonder if our feedback has changed how they make the broth! Oh we also loved the name - Yankee Doodle Ramen Noodle

Dish 4: Dessert: Chocolate Ganache Mochi and Strawberry Cheesecake Mochi
Mochi? What the hell are Mochi? That is what we were asking ourselves before we were presented with a ball of each flavour. Turns out Mochi are rice balls which can be filled with various ingredients. The chocolate ones were really rich and my fav and Soph preferred the Cheesecake ones - We cannot describe in words what they tasted like you really need to experience them for yourselves! These ones were made by @lovelittlemoons and we would love to have tried more but unfortunately we did not win United Ramens quiz or instagram comp that they were running on the night :(

In summary - we had a cracking time and found the food flavoursome, big and defs something we would eat again! We look forward to seeing United Ramen open their first restaurant!

For more info check out their website - www.unitedramen.com