Ramen and Raindrop Cake Restaurant Yamagoya Finds Permanent Home in Waterloo

Next month, Yamagoya — “a traditional Japanese ramen and raindrop cake restaurant” — will open its first permanent site in London. It follows a successful temporary residency above the Chinese hot pot restaurant, Shuang Shuang on Shaftesbury Avenue, on south edge of Soho. The restaurant will open on Monday 9 October.

The new site is located on The Cut, close to Waterloo station. The “simple” interior will have a stripped back feel and Shoji wood paneling throughout, which is said to be reminiscent of Masatoshi Ogata’s original ramen shop in Fukuoka, which was founded in 1969.

“We’ve spent the past few months testing and experimenting in our pop-up kitchen and after such a warm reception, we are now ready to build Yamagoya’s first real home in London; in a bigger and better space, with an added takeaway option. Our focus remains the same, with ramen at the heart, but we’re excited to bring more of our favourite Japanese dishes to London too, not to mention the raindrop cake.” Ogata said in a statement.

The ramen menu will include:

• Yamagoya: handmade noodles in tonkotsu broth, garnished with traditional Japanese chashu pork belly, marinated bamboo shoot, Kikurake mushroom, nori and marinated Burford Brown egg (£9.50).
• Tobanjan: a hot tobanjan spiced broth known in Japan as ‘the fire of food’, finished with chilli (£9.00).
• Yuzukara: Green tonkotsu broth, layered with sliced chashu pork and topped with a salty, spicy paste made from the zest of Japanese yuzu and green chillies (£9.90).
• Cold varieties of Hiyashi Chuka: cooked in cold water, will also be available with either smoked chashu, chicken or tofu, all served with marinated egg and garnished with seasonal vegetables.

Courtesy Yamagoya

The Instagrammable raindrop cake, which debuted in London at Yamagoya in May this year, will be a permanent feature on the menu and will can be infused with matcha. Made in the shape of a water droplet, the completely clear dessert melts into liquid once in the mouth. The dessert is inspired by the cult Japanese dish, mizu shingen mochi. Yamagoya’s recipe uses agar powder (apparently only found in Japan) which gives it its unusual translucence; it is served with kuromitsu (molasses syrup) and kinako (roasted soybean flour) for dipping.

Japanese flavoured ice creams will include matcha mochi, black sesame mochi and green tea.

Snacks and starters on the menu will include: Hijiki Seaweed and edamame salad (£1.75); cold tofu dressed in a cold fish and spring onion dressing (£2.50); chicken karaage with yuzu mayo (£3.50). Plus, an array of new rice dishes: ‘Charishi’, a colourful sushi bowl with salmon and avocado and ‘mentaiko gohan’, spicy cod roe rice bowl. Yamagoya’s Japanese sandwiches will include fillings of chicken katsu (£5.00) or chicken chashu (£5.00) will be available to takeaway.

Yamagoya will open on the Cut on Monday 9 October, available to eat in, takeaway or deliver. They will not take reservations. Mon-Sun: 11.30am — 10.30pm.