Ippudo Central Saint Giles Reviews Summary

Price

Pros:

• "The price pays for itself."
• "For the price, I couldn't recommend it more!"
• "Great value for these times, glad to see they are always busy."
• "Despite the location in Central London, the prices are very mid range and do not hurt the wallet/purse."
• "For £30 you can eat very well there, and even have a light meal for two people (ramen, no starters or extras)."
• "Also pretty inexpensive."
• "Food tastes great and prices are more than reasonable."

Cons:

• "Adding an extra topping or two quickly would bring the price exceeding £20."
• "Overall the food is good, however because of the inflation the price has gone up at least 20%."
• "If they don’t sort out their pricing or portion, I’m not really thinking of returning."
• "Another thing to note is it’s a bit pricey! (£13-20 for a ramen) but for the karaage alone it was worth the experience."
• "The food is also rather pricy."
• "Quite pricey for the ramen but definitely recommend for the taste and quality."
• "Expensive price is the only problem."

Service

Pros:

• "Service made a lot of effort to make it as authentic as possible."
• "Thank you for the wonderful flavoursome dishes and exceptional service."
• "Great customer service, all staff were lovely and super attentive."
• "The staff serving us was really friendly."
• "Staff were quite busy and can lead to delays in orders and collecting bills. Staff were very nice and apologetic for delays, and their service was amazing."
• "Staff were surprisingly friendly for central London, they embody the famed Japanese hospitality!"
• "The staff too are really friendly."

Cons:

• "The pork belly were too fatty and not very nice."
• "Improvement required for services."
• "We were disappointed by the service we received."
• "The waiter's complete lack of genuine kindness and sympathy during his communication with myself and other patrons."
• "The only reason I gave 3 stars is due to the service."
• "Lost one star because of some female staffs’ attitude toward us, they were very unprofessional, blunt and some of them even didn't understand English."
• "Very disappointed with service."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Their Ramen has one of the best and unique Umami I have ever tasted."
• "The octopus starter was a revelation - creamy and bursting with umami goodness."
• "Deeply satisfying! I had the Akamaru modern. The noodles were firm, the chashu was soft and extremely delicious, the broth was exceptionally good."
• "For me the BEST Tonkotsu style Ramen in London!"
• "This is the best tonkotsu ramen I have tasted outside Fukuoka."
• "The eggs in the ramen are amazing, and so is the pork belly."
• "The ramen was a delightful bowl of flavors, capturing the essence of authentic Japanese ramen."

Cons:

• "It's a bit salty and the egg was a bit disappointing."
• "It’s a shame that the chashu pork belly was relatively small."
• "The karaage chicken... I know 100% this is bought in and reheated because I’ve purchased the same from Japanese retail outlets."
• "Food portions however were not - honestly the smallest donburi I've ever had."
• "The inner part of the wing is still freezing cold."
• "The tori ramen also had a very light broth with a little citrus flavor which I didn't really appreciate."
• "The Chicken Kara-age was not edible."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "The restaurant has a lovely open feel with great window seating."
• "The modern decor and generous portions made for a thoroughly enjoyable lunch."
• "The decor is cosy with a sense of simple sophistication."
• "Quiet breezy yard, spacious layout, and no rush to drink the noodles."
• "The atmosphere is great there as well."
• "The location is ideal and the ambiance is great."
• "The atmosphere is nice."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately they didn't have any to-go options."
• "The queuing system is a utter mess."
• "Place is a dump - frayed, rough around the edges and seemingly unloved and forgotten about."
• "In terms of atmosphere, it probably needs a bit of work, probably just wear and tear due to age and use."
• "Something about the ambiance isn't as restaurant-y as you might like."
• "Its setting is surrounded by offices, which detracts somewhat from the atmosphere."
• "The restaurant itself was very small and I felt like I was sat closer to other customers next to me than I was opposite my boyfriend."