Please note, the restaurant formerly known as Shochu Kanteen is now called Shochu Lounge. Time Out Food editors, MARCH 2020.
What to do with an empty shochu bar during the day? Jump on the ramen bandwagon, of course. Roka’s Shochu Lounge tried this once before, but the venture didn’t last too long. We’re not sure how long it will last this time either, as we were the only customers on our visit.
Shochu Kanteen is open from Monday to Friday noon-3.30pm, and the menu is simple. There are two types of ramen – we tried both – and neither was as good as we’ve tried elsewhere in London. The stock in the Tokyo-style soy sauce ramen was a little bland, while the (better) Hokkaido-style miso ramen was on the salty side. In texture the noodles were reminiscent of the instant kind you get out of a pack. Steamed, folded buns with Korean spices shredded lamb shoulder and pickled cabbage were better, as was a refreshing salad of tomato and hijiki seaweed with savoury soy sauce and rice vinegar (wafu dressing). There’s no complaining about the service, which was friendly and attentive throughout our meal… but we were the only ones there.