For the first time since opening back in September, Supa Ya Ramen has given its menu a full revamp so we hot-footed it down to Dalston to try out the new summer creations. The dishes are perfectly suited to warmer weather, with cold plates and soupless ramens on offer. We kicked off with a plate of the hot mix pickles – the shiitake mushroom was a particular fave – and the tofu whip, which is essentially a Japanese hummus. Served with summer tomatoes and a herby, zingy green tomato dressing and seeaweed dusted flatbread, it’s a great way to do tofu especially for people who think they don’t like it.
Supa Ya may have changed the menu but the experimental approach hasn’t gone anywhere. Two highlights of the new offering are odes to breakfast foods and they are both stunning bowls of food. The Ham, Egg and Chips Mazemen is soupless, with excellent ham hock chashu, noodles dressed in smoked bacon & XO sauce, pickled cucumber, Supa Ya’s signature fudgey egg, and potato straws that cleverly mimicked the shape of the noodles.
The Cumberland Sausage Tantanmen, the only hot and soupy bowl available, is one of the best tantanmen ramens we’ve ever had – a rich, deep, spicy broth of sesame miso and chilli paste, with lots of sausage meat and another one of those superb eggs. It’ll have you sweating a bit (making it fantastic on a hangover) but you won’t be able to stop your spoon from going back in again and again until the whole lot is gone.
The puds are no less inventive. Thankfully the noodle ice cream, with its wheaty, almost cereal-like flavour and miso caramel drizzle, has remained on the menu to help with the cooling down post-tantanmen, and the salted caramel and Sichuan peppercorn truffles were a revelation. First we were hit with the pepper, which was floral rather than overwhelmingly hot, before turning into botanical, almost G&T-like notes as the chocolate came through; a real masterclass in balancing flavours.
Ramen fans, run, don’t walk, down to Supa Ya Ramen because you don’t want to miss this.
Supa Ya Ramen, 499 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AU
@supa_ya_ramen