Kinoya Ramen Bar at Harrods

Kinoya arrives in London with plenty of fanfare - this standout Dubai izakaya and ramen joint has scooped award after award in the Middle East, making founder Neha Mishra a bonafide superstar. One imagines that Kinoya would have had many suitors for a London site - London’s ramen obsession remains as fervent as ever - and Mishra has taken the glamorous route, with a spot inside the prestigious Harrods dining hall.

Admittedly it is a nice space. It benefits from the live crooning that occupies the centre of the hall, so you can slurp on noodles listening to acapella Motown hits. Kinoya is just on your right as you enter, and you’ll see chefs (including Mishra herself on our visit) ladling broths and building ramen bowls before slinging them out over the horseshoe-shaped counter. There are a few tables but a seat up-close-and-personal is where the real fun is.

As well as signature ramen bowls (and a new tonkotsu ramen for London, more on that later) Kinoya serves up a tightly-curated selection of snacks, which are a good way to get warmed up before the star attraction arrives. Two Wagyu beef skewers - one steak and one meatball - are delicious and rich with fat and charcoal smoke. At £19 and £22, they’re also not cheap. th

Kinoya was always going to be judged on ramen and ramen alone, and in the case of Mishra’s signature Shio Paitan ramen, it seems that it has made the journey well. Rich, luscious chicken broth has a piquancy from burnt garlic oil, and a heft of noodles have lots of bite. It’s excellent, but at £27 it’s nearly twice the price of most other good ramen bowls in London. The same is true of the tonkotsu ramen, which is more delicate than similar tonkotsu broths from the likes of Shoryu and Kanada-Ya but clocks in at nearly £30.

Granted, there’s little expectation that anything will be affordable within the confines of the grand Harrods dining hall, but the price stings a little nonetheless. If money is no object, there’s some excellent ramen on offer here and Kinoya is a welcome addition to London’s burgeoning ramen scene.

Kinoya is an izakaya-ramen restaurant originating from Dubai, which has since migrated to London with a site in Harrods department store. Kinoya London is Kinoya's first overseas restaurant, and it joins the likes of Sushi by MASA, Assembly Mezze and Skewers and Tom Kerridge in Harrods' Grade-II listed dining hall. Kinoya was founded by chef-owner Neha Mishra, a self-trained chef who started the brand as a supper club series before making it permanent when she opened Kinoya at The Onyx Tower 2. The menu focuses on ramen, but also includes snacks and small plates.

Walk through Harrods' delicatessen counters and you'll find the dining hall on the right hand side, with Kinoya Ramen in the front right corner of the hall. In the middle of the horseshoe-shaped counter, Kinoya chefs busy themselves with bowls of ramen and small snacks. The majority of the seats are around the counter, but there are a few tables as well. The dining hall often has live music in the evening too. 

Kinoya is something of a hybrid concept, bringing together two gastronomic experiences: izakaya and ramen. As such, diners can expect to enjoy the laid-back ethos of a Japanese drinking den while slurping on delicious bowls of authentic ramen. A win-win, surely? Like the Dubai restaurant, you can expect an all-encompassing atmosphere along with a line-up of casual but delicious dishes including Wagyu tsukune skewers, burnt butter scallops and Kinoya's famous miso butter eggplant.

On the ramen front, Kinoya's signature Shio Paitan ramen comes to London with a slow-cooked chicken broth, dashi, seared chicken and burnt garlic oil. There's also a duck ramen made with duck broth, cured duck slices, braised duck leg and a sweet sauce, and a tonkotsu ramen which adds to the classic 12-hour boiled pork broth with bacon katsuobushi, anchovy oil and torched chashu pork. 

Kinoya was founded by chef-owner Neha Mishra, a self-trained chef who started the brand as a supper club series before making it permanent when she opened Kinoya at The Onyx Tower 2. The menu focuses on ramen, but also includes sushi and robata grills.