Marugame Udon St. Christopher's Place

Given the love and admiration for Japanese food in London, udon has always seemed conspicuously absent here - aside from Shuko Oda’s excellent Koya we’ve been rather underserved. Until now that is, because Marugame Udon - by all accounts a global mega-noodle-corp - is sweeping the capital with its traditional sanuki udon and tempura.

For a lunch crowd that has been indoctrinated into paying £3 for a meal deal, the idea of paying £3.45 for a bowl of noodles is pretty enticing. The kamaage udon is as simple as it gets but they’re undeniably delicious - plump, bouncy noodles plucked straight from the pot, served with an umami-bomb fish dashi on the side. Kake udon (udon in a light fish dashi) are equally superb. We tried the kimchi yaki udon as well and found it tasty, though not quite as revelatory as the more minimal dishes. Chicken katsu curry, yaki udon and tonkotsu will no doubt be incredibly popular here (as they already are in other London chains), but we hope people will give the cheaper, traditional noodle dishes a proper go.

Onto the tempura - the yin to Marugame’s noodle yang. Marugame runs as a canteen, so you grab a tray, order your main and then help yourself to tempura whilst you wait. The tempura is cooked and then kept warm under lights so you can grab as you go. As a result, we found it a bit hit and miss - the prawn tempura was light and crisp but others were either a little oily or verging on chewy.

Still, finished off by a chocolate doriyaki and a Little Moons mango cheesecake mochi, it’s hard to leave feeling unsatisfied by Marugame Udon. In Japan, loudly slurping your noodles is largely considered to be a sign of appreciation; these udon are certainly worthy of a noisy slurp, just don’t wear anything you really, really like - flicking sauce and dashi everywhere is an inevitability.

Marugame Udon's London expansion continues with this central London location that is perfect for Oxford Street shoppers and local workers alike. Exciting new restaurant groups often end up in St. Christopher's Place - Marugame counts Bone Daddies, Crosstown Doughnuts, Flat Iron, Hoppers and Homeslice among it's neighbours here, and with more locations in Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street and at The O2, not to mention about 800 sites in Japan and another 250 around the world, it looks like we can expect more from Marugame in the near future.

The udon offering is traditional and affordable, starting at just £3.45 for the kamaage (fresh noodles taken straight from the cooking pot and served with a smoky fish dashi), through to familiar comforts like yaki udon, tonkotsu and chicken katsu curry. If you've been pressganged by friends into visiting Marugame Udon and you don't like noodles, don't fret - you can still eat here. There are a few rice bowls too (of the teriyaki and katsu curry variety) and a healthy selection of tempura-battered bits, from individual veggies like pepper, asparagus and courgette to prawn, squid and chicken. And of course, Marugame's tempura scraps.

For dessert, you can indulge in traditional Japanese sweets like mochi and dorayaki pancakes, as well as a selection of unlimited matcha or vanilla soft serve ice cream. To drink, there are Asahi beers, canned sparkling sake and a range of refillable soft drinks, including ginger kombucha and Japanese Ramume lemonade.

Marugame is also well on top of the dietary side of things - many of the menu options have vegan alternatives, and calorie info will surely help Marugame appeal to a more health-conscious crowd.