KOI
Ramen Bar
Tooting Market, 21-23 Tooting High St SW17 0SN
£
Koi Ramen started out as a street food stall in Brixton, quickly locating to Pop Brixton to set up a permanent food bar. Since then, it has progressed to Tooting Market and Brick Lane Market, due to an increased popularity.
Koi aims to serve quality Ramen for not much dosh. Ming, the brains behind the grub, comments on how when Ramen first hit the London food scene it was served at snazzy restaurants for unreasonable prices. Ramen, he claims, is for everyone - in Japan Ramen lovers range from rich to poor, young to old, etc etc. One Wednesday evening I went to catch up with some girlfriends in Tooting, one of them suggested trying out KOI, and after a quick google the reviews looked stellar...
The location of Tooting Market is quickly on the up... I never thought I would ever see the day where they was a Gin Bar or Brickwood in the middle of Tooting Broadway, but I guess we have to make way for the inevitable gentrification of all London Boroughs. To be honest, there are a lot of cool new places located in the market (not to be confused with Broadway market next door which remains the diamenté'd Tooting I used to know), and it is definitely worth an explore. Whatsmore, Koi itself manages to escape the same stereotype of, say, Brickwood, in that it is unpretentious, affordable, laid back food.
There are 4 ramen on the menu: Tonkotsu, Miso Tofu, Miso Pork and Shoyu - all priced at £7 each. There is then also a choice of Pork, Chicken or Vegetarian Gyoza, £2.50 for 3 pieces/£5.00 for 6. Drinks range from Beer to Sake, I didn't actually drink so I'm not sure how they fare, but it's hard to imagine the prices are unreasonable. They also have a choice of desserts - Green Tea ice cream or Sesame Ice Cream. Unfortunately, both were out when I went but I have had Green Tea ice cream before at Lao Cafe in Charing Cross, and it is absolutely fabulous.
I went for the Miso Pork and 3 Chicken Gyoza - both incredibly tasty. I added a marinated egg to my ramen which I would strongly recommend (£1 supplement for whole, 50p for half). The Ramen was flavour filled and topped with sesame, chilli and ginger. The Gyoza were crunchy one side, soft on the other and topped with soy sauce and chilli - amongst the best I've tasted for sure.
The staff remain calm and friendly, despite being rushed off their feet with orders. The food is made fast but in no way does it suffer on quality because of this. Overall, I would strongly recommend a visit to Koi - I'm not sure if it's the "best Ramen in London", but it's definitely up there.
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.koiramenbar.co.uk/
