About half-way through 2017, the old video shop in Melville closed after decades of service. Sadly, soon after that we said goodbye to The Leopard (well, it moved to 44 Stanley after a long stint in old town) next door. But as Joburgers know, with change comes chance, and as remodelling started on the building, locals started talking, trying to figure out what new tenants are going to replace the old.
Soon a sign for Perron went up. Awesome! We can all do with more Mexican food (seeing as Cafe Mexicho went the way of the dodo). But next to that, where Andrea Burgener and Nick Gordon had the Leopard, there was still a shroud of mystery. Let's skip forward a couple of months and introduce you to our new favourite ramen hangout in Joburg (We still love you, PRON but these dudes make their own kimchi).
Love Me So is a brand spanking new Japanese, Korean, and Chinese inspired restaurant that serves big bowls of ramen, Korean BBQ, and izakaya (Japanese tapas)... and amazing candy store inspired cocktails - can't forget about that.
That's the hard and fast of it all, for sure but what's Love Me So like? Simply put. It's awesome. As I made my trip from Roodepoort to Melville to try out this place, I asked my Facebook homies if they've been and what they think of the place. The post went mad with all posting raving reviews about the place. Fair enough, ramen is one of the latest food crazes to hit our shores. In fact, did you know that we are four years behind America when it comes to these culinary trends? I did a bit of research and it all started in New York City in and around the Year Of Our Lord, 2013. Anyway (stay focused, Shawn!), Love Me So does not have set dishes of ramen; instead you build your own.
You start by choosing a broth (chicken and sake, mushrooms and miso, or chicken and pork), a protein (pork belly, crispy shredded pork, butter roasted chicken breast, or an aged beef sirloin), and then finish it off with four toppings, such as ramen egg, kimchi, spring onions, beans, slow roasted tomato, and so on and so forth. Now, I can tell you without a doubt that the ramen will blow you away. Chef Alex spent months upon months perfecting these broths, and sources his ramen noodles from a lady who makes her own. The servings are huge, massive. I went in there hungry, thinking that I was going to eat my way through the entire menu (like I did at Rosto in Linden).
To look all fancy and important, here's a bullet point of the ramen I had:
Soon a sign for Perron went up. Awesome! We can all do with more Mexican food (seeing as Cafe Mexicho went the way of the dodo). But next to that, where Andrea Burgener and Nick Gordon had the Leopard, there was still a shroud of mystery. Let's skip forward a couple of months and introduce you to our new favourite ramen hangout in Joburg (We still love you, PRON but these dudes make their own kimchi).
Love Me So is a brand spanking new Japanese, Korean, and Chinese inspired restaurant that serves big bowls of ramen, Korean BBQ, and izakaya (Japanese tapas)... and amazing candy store inspired cocktails - can't forget about that.
That's the hard and fast of it all, for sure but what's Love Me So like? Simply put. It's awesome. As I made my trip from Roodepoort to Melville to try out this place, I asked my Facebook homies if they've been and what they think of the place. The post went mad with all posting raving reviews about the place. Fair enough, ramen is one of the latest food crazes to hit our shores. In fact, did you know that we are four years behind America when it comes to these culinary trends? I did a bit of research and it all started in New York City in and around the Year Of Our Lord, 2013. Anyway (stay focused, Shawn!), Love Me So does not have set dishes of ramen; instead you build your own.
You start by choosing a broth (chicken and sake, mushrooms and miso, or chicken and pork), a protein (pork belly, crispy shredded pork, butter roasted chicken breast, or an aged beef sirloin), and then finish it off with four toppings, such as ramen egg, kimchi, spring onions, beans, slow roasted tomato, and so on and so forth. Now, I can tell you without a doubt that the ramen will blow you away. Chef Alex spent months upon months perfecting these broths, and sources his ramen noodles from a lady who makes her own. The servings are huge, massive. I went in there hungry, thinking that I was going to eat my way through the entire menu (like I did at Rosto in Linden).
To look all fancy and important, here's a bullet point of the ramen I had:
- chicken and pork broth with red miso and soy
- crispy pork shoulder cooked in tonkotsu stock
- topped with ramen egg, wood ear mushrooms, slow roasted tomatoes and kimchi.
