I went to a ramen popup by Benny Sumadiwiria held at Junsei restaurant which was a two day event with two sessions per evening.
Junsei is located just off Edgeware Road tube station on the backstreets on a residential street which seems rather quiet.
Despite arriving around 5:15pm I was surprised there was another customer as early as me so we were sat next to each other at the bar.
The yakitori is done at the bar while the ramen was cooked in the basement kitchen.
As soon as we arrived, the guy behind the bar was grilling the Guinea Fowl which was for the second and third course of the meal.
Started off with the Amuse goma tofu which was a spoon of soft tofu made with peanuts and sesame topped with wasabi and white ponzu.
Overall, very tasty and similar to Okinawa peanut tofu but the texture of this was like a creme.
Next was the Hamachi in miso buttermilk which was really refreshing because the miso buttermilk tasted like a savoury yoghurt.
Moving on, we were served the Tsukemen by Benny which was surprisingly nice because the Tsukemen had a nice firm texture and I think I tasted a bit of Lye which disappeared when you dip it in the broth.
On the side were two slices of guinea fowl which the chef has been grilling on the Yakitori when we arrived.
I would say the colour and thickness is different to the ones I have tried before.
The broth was very salty but the guy next to me drank it all.
Following the noodles, it was soft shell crab stuffed with miso, brown meat, egg coated in charcoal breadcrumbs.
Overall, it was nice and tasted how it should but I felt that some sauce / fresh lemon wedge should be given.
For the fifth course, it was Guinea fowl served in three different ways cooked on the yakitori.
You eat it from left to right.
I found the first piece the tastiest because the guinea fowl breast slices were paired with shitaake mushroom slices pickled in soy (Shoyuzuke) topped with my favourite green yuzu pepper paste.
The middle skewer was grilled guinea fowl thigh with citrus which had a lovely bouncy texture but I couldn't quite taste the citrus anywhere.
(I think I saw them make the marinade by adding Waitrose orange squash/juice to it but I definitely saw the guinea fowl meat was from a vacuum sealed pouch by Gressinghams).
The third skewer was the tsukune which was minced guinea fowl stuffed with a quail egg inside.
The finale was the tan tan ramen which I liked. It was topped with two slices of rolled chicken which was sliced and grilled on the yakitori so it had a nice charred flavour.
As for the soup it was full of flavour but not too spicy but perhaps on the thin side.
The egg which he said was marinaded for three days had a lovely liquid yolk inside but the egg white was strangely sweet in taste.
Finished with the choux puffs stuff with ginger ice cream dusted with ginger sugar powder.
I managed to finish it all but the guy on my left only ate one as he said he was rather full.
In terms of quality, I was glad I dined earlier because the pair that started later had the same food but the grilled items were already grilled which makes it needs a re-grilling that might affect the taste.
Overall, I really liked the ramen and tsukemen as well as the Yakitori experience but I felt that there was too much Guinea fowl in the courses.
More about the chef:
During the dinner, the Japanese lady was really nice and talkative hence I was able hear more about the chef.
The Chef Benny Sumadiwiria is such a ramen lover that he claims that he ate 30 bowls of ramen a week in Japan which works out 5 a day which I believe is possible as I have been crazy before and did something similar.
In a way I am lucky to have tried his food because he admits he is lazy that he doesn't want to work more than 5 days a week but is interested in becoming a ramen chef.
He was in the news in 2016 for the headlines:
[British chef went temporarily DEAF after eating the world's hottest noodles].
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/british-chef-went-temporarily-deaf-8742641
His instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/supercoolben/
Junsei Restaurant:Address: 132 Seymour Pl, London W1H 1NS
Hours:
Wednesday 6–10pm
Thursday 1–3:30pm, 6–10pm
Friday 1–3:30pm, 6–10pm
Saturday 1–3:30pm, 6–10pm
Sunday 1–9pm
Monday 6–10pm
Tuesday 6–10pm
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