Ippudo Ramen - Camden

I am very disappointed by this place. I remember coming here once or twice and be pretty happy, but I went in today, asked for a classic Ramen takeaway, just removing the mushrooms and the spring onions. I got back to the office and when I opened the box, I found two TINY pieces of meat, noodles, the broth, and... absolutely nothing else. Not even the soft boil egg, nothing. Paying £12 for a bit of noodles, a broth and two small pieces of meat is very disappointing! I will not go back anytime soon.

Poor customer service by Fei. She disallow me to move seats even when I felt uncomfortable. There are plenty seats available, yet she re-emphasised that it is the rule to do so! The supervisor Carlos was very nice indeed!

I love Ippudo! I have visited the one in New York and Paris and the one in London many times and the food levels is always the same. I can recommend their bar buns, the one with pork and the vegetarian one are amazing. You can't book a table so try and show up and see if they have room. Nice staff and the food comes quick.

I visited without booking with a party of friends earlier this week, and I was really shocked by the service. The entry area is very narrow, and the waiting staff ignored us for a good five minutes. I appreciate that it was a busy night for the area (we had been turned down at several other nearby restaurants), but one staff member was dedicated to front-of-house, and seemingly chose to ignore us, despite being right next to us. After we enquired, we were then told a table would be available in 15 to 20 minutes. We saw several groups seated before us, even though those groups had clearly arrived later. After 25 minutes, we were told that many tables were about to pay, so we would be seated shortly. After 30 minutes, we were told there were counters-seating only. There was no attempt at an apology. I convinced my friends to leave and we found a table at Byron's down the road.

As a huge fan of Ippudo, I inquired if I could substitute tofu for pork in my dish. I had gotten a tummy ache the last time I had pork, but I believe it was due to my sensitive stomach rather than the quality of the pork. The restaurant informed me that I could have the spicy pork ramen without the pork, but there would be an additional charge for the tofu. I questioned their decision-making process and received their response. There are many amazing Pho and Ramen options in London.