When my mum first moved to Worcester, I genuinely thought it was a high street connected to the river by a cathedral, and not much more. Simple but cute. On each subsequent visit it seems like I discover a new road, alley or courtyard that makes this small city of two hundred thousand people ever more complex and cooler.
Onna recent visit, I was taken to a Ramen restaurant by Pam, the daughter of my mum’s boyfriend, both natives of the area. “It’s won awards“, she said. Well, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey has won awards. But I was intrigued to try it as the menu looked small enough to inspire confidence that this place knew its shit.
‘Maneki Ramen’ is located in a railway arch close to Foregate Street in Central Worcester, sharing a business unit with a smash burger joint, next to an independent organic coffee roastery and steps away from a be-tapped craft brewpub in another railway arch. Yes, Worcester has its own version of East London, and it’s very lovely indeed. A lot quieter and cleaner, for starters.
Maneki impressed me, so I returned with The European. On both visits, I’ve ordered mostly the same food; it’s consistently fabulous. Local beers, such as Lemondrop Hill, a gluten-free pale ale from Wiper and True, in Bristol, will keep you refreshed and curious, and a large team of friendly and knowledgeable servers oil the wheels of hospitality.
The first time I went we shared pork gyozas, which were thoughtfully prepared, delicately spiced, and fried well. More recently, we tried the smoked tofu and wild garlic ones, which I should have vehemently disliked, but not only were they delicious, the texture was great too. The European tried some fried tofu; again, a dish that makes my skin crawl – but again, yummo. On both occasions karaage chicken completed our starters. The knobbly morsels of fried fowl are tender, juicy and have a perfectly crisp shell, something that I often find karaage lacks.
Obviously ramen is the dish to go for, either as a main course or, as it’s large enough, for a swift single course bite (despite its funky bricky tunnel interior, the restaurant isn’t cozy and won’t implore you to hang around). There are other main dishes on offer if you prefer, such as a katsu curry or even my favourite from Japan itself, katsudon.
I’ve tried two bowls of ramen, the Tonkotsu and the Roast Duck Sichuan. The Tonkotsu is fabulous and rich, getting a rare seal of approval from The European, who declared it to my mum to be “…better than some of the places we visited in Japan“. What really surprised me was the roast duck bowl. Seemingly a bastardised, slightly Chinese take on one of Japan’s most famous dishes, this was a heavenly deep bowl of roast duck chintan broth with crispy shredded duck meat. It was wonderful, enough to bestow upon The European a satisfying dose of food envy.
On my latest visit to Maneki Ramen, we had headed straight there from our drive up from London, having been delayed by over an hour and a half due to accidents on the M40, and needing to push our table back accordingly. The drive knackered us both out, and we eschewed the fabulous desserts (the miso custard caramel tart is addictively good) and headed out to explore Worcester. Of course, the moment we did, the heavens opened, so we went home.
Maneki Ramen is just one example of Worcester’s surprisingly vibrant food scene kept on the down low. Between us leaving the restaurant and getting drenched by the downpour, we tried the coffee roaster, ‘Method’, enjoying a couple of cortados in the fleeting sun. The next evening, we toasted my mum’s boyfriend’s 70th birthday in the consistently great Mediterranean restaurant, ‘The Olive Branch’. On the outskirts of the town centre, there’s an incredible barbeque restaurant, ‘Hickory’s’, that wiped the floor with a place we just visited in London that was supposed to specialise in the cuisine. And don’t get me started on the bars and pubs. Expect more write ups on Worcester as soon as I clear my year-long backlog of blogs…
Visited on 29th March 2024.
Starters, mains, and a couple of beers came to around £sixty, service not included.
The food thing. 
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