Ramen Wars, London

Shoryu continues to be the best ramen in the west end based on comparisons of their standard Ganso Tonkotsu ramen with Ittenbari's standard shoyu this week. Both restaurants are on the divide between Soho and Piccadilly in London's West End.

Shoyu, Piccadilly Circus

Ittenbari, Piccadilly Circus

First the service: despite being full of dinners I was surprised by how quickly my order of ramen appeared at Shoryu. At Ittenbari I had to call a waitress over, they were focused on clearing not serving, a priority I disapprove of when no one is waiting on a table.

Second: Shoryu has delicious pork buns (and other buns if you're so inclined). I ate on Monday when buns are 2 for 1. Not a deciding factor in a Ramen-off but worth a mention. 

Lastly the ramen: Ittenbari has two choices - regular or DX (full egg, extra pork) and you can opt for 60 second noodles instead of the usual 75 seconds of boiling. This pales against Shoryu's various noodle types and firmness choices though on this occasion I went for the standard version of each. (No, not on the same day, just in the same week!)

I've never been able to decide which flavour of ramen I like best. It vacillates from tonkotsu to shoyu though some days I like miso or shio too.

However if you're around Piccadilly the choice is made for you by the gap in flavour between the silky, deep flavours of Shoryu's tonkotsu (pork based) and the glossy, 'fatty' soup (chicken based) at Ittenbari.

Don't get me wrong, I like Ittenbari and I'm sooo happy that with Shoryu, Ittenbari, Bone Daddies and Sasuke London now has the choice of ramen it has long lacked. But at the moment I can't help but think Ittenbari is the place to go when the line at Shoryu or Bone Daddies is too long.