Seoul Bakery - perfect for a quick Korean meal in Central London

Seoul Bakery is perfect if you're looking for a tasty yet good value Korean meal in Central London.

It's certainly not the best Korean restaurant in London - far from it.  Situated in Saint Giles High Street, it's not even the best Korean restaurant along that road, which happens to have four or five Korean restaurants along it.  But that's not a problem because Seoul Bakery does not pretend to be the best.  It's small and it's cramped, but it's forgiven because it's fast and it gets the job done.

I ordered the 'rapokki' - essentially tapokki plus ramen noodles, served with a boiled egg and fish cake.  This cost £5.50, so no surprise that the ramen were of the instant kind.  But considering I was here for a quick and cheap lunch, it was fine.

I topped myself up with some tuna gimbap, filled with vegetables and pickle.  Gimbap can be described as Korean sushi, though the fillings tend to be quite different to their Japanese equivalents.

Meanwhile, the girlfriend ordered the janchi guksu, a wheat noodle soup in a clear and light broth.  The soup could have done with a slight dash of soy sauce, but that's no problem - better than finding it too salty, for sure.

Like I say, don't expect anything fancy at this place, and don't even bother if you're going as a large group.  But if you're out alone or as a couple and you're in need of Korean food at fast food prices, this is one to consider.

Closest Tube: Tottenham Court Road

Mugen - excellent Japanese restaurant in the City of London

As a worker in the City of London, I've walked past Mugen plenty of times and seen lots of (what I believe to be) Japanese people in there - always a good sign for a Japanese restaurant!

Recently, I finally decided to go in for a quick meal before an evening event, so I was after something relatively light.

The menu is not cheap, but there are a few more affordable items on there, namely the ramen noodle soups and curry dishes.

The girlfriend went for the special ramen with miso soup. It was a delight. Check this out...

It tasted as good as it looked - and it looks good to me!

I opted for a much plainer looking soba noodle soup with tempura prawn and vegetables. It may look simple but the flavour of the broth was still top notch. 

I also appreciated the fact that Mugen presented the tempura in a separate dish, meaning the batter would not go all soggy - other restaurants please take note!

While we were there, a private function was going on with a load of Japanese businessmen all enjoying themselves eating Mugen's tasty food. There was a sushi chef in the middle of the party plying his trade, making fresh sushi. Great scenes - will have to go back there one day to try their sushi and sashimi dishes out.

Nearest Tube: Bank

Dozo Soho - Japanese restaurant

Dozo Sushi is a Japanese restaurant in Soho, London.  While its name strongly suggests that it specialises in sushi, its main menu actually features many other items including grilled dishes, bento boxes and noodle soups.  So there's definitely something for most people, should you not fancy sushi.

The girlfriend opted for a donburi dish - specifically a sushi don.  Essentially a sushi don is a large bowl of sushi rice with salmon sashimi on top, served alongside a miso soup.  If you like salmon sashimi but want something a bit more filling, this is a good choice; it is a simple yet great tasting and filling dish.  

Sushi don.

I do like a good noodle soup, so I opted for the Spicy Ramen.  This consisted of ramen noodles (obviously), stir fry beef, fish cake, nitamago egg and vegetables.  There were lots of different ingredients and flavours here - I quite enjoyed it and was glad I ordered it.

Spicy ramen.

As we paid the bill, the waiter gave us 10 per cent discount for paying by cash - worth knowing if you're planning a visit and fancy a bit of a discount.

Closest Tube: Leicester Square

Tonkotsu: tasty ramen noodle soup

I'm a massive fan of noodle soup.  So when the girlfriend suggested we go to Tonkotsu - a Japanese ramen bar in Soho, London - I was there straight away.

According to one of Tonkotsu's blog posts, their ramen bar is London's first.  They also take their food seriously, proudly displaying on their menu and website that they make their own noodles from their Japan-imported machine.  But is it any good?

The short answer is yes - the noodle soup is very good at Tonkotsu!  And judging by the queue at the door, they've clearly built up a healthy following too.

The menu is simple: there's only four ramen dishes to choose from (plus side dishes) - quality over quantity.  All the ramen are between £9 and £11, so you won't break the bank eating there.

I went for the 'Tokyo Ramen', a ramen noodle soup with a seasoned boiled egg, pork belly and bamboo shoots.  The pork was soft and well seasoned, and the egg was perfectly cooked with a lovely soft centre.  The noodles had a good bite to them, while the soup broth had a wonderful smoky and intense flavour to it.

Tokyo Ramen: soy sauce base, pork and chicken stock and medium thick noodles topped with mirin and soy marinated pork belly, half a seasoned soft-boiled egg, menma and spring onions. 

The girlfriend ordered the 'Tonkotsu', the distinctive feature of which was the rich and milk-like soup broth.  The taste was completely different to the Tokyo, and tasted creamy in comparison.  It was a softer flavour in my opinion, but the girlfriend was equally impressed.  In fact, she usually hates mung beansprouts (the type in the Tonkotsu ramen), but she ate them all on this occasion because, such was the flavour of the broth, it masked the sprouts.

Tonkotsu: rich, sea salt-based pork stock and thin noodles topped with slices of melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, half a seasoned soft-boiled egg, menma, bean sprouts and spring onions

Overall, I really enjoyed the food at Tonkotsu and will be eager to try their other ramen bowls.