Vicky Hodgkisson dives into the latest broth offering in the city center
What: New Wave Ramen
Where: 16 Tib Lane, M2 4JB
Type of food/drink: Ramen restaurant, small plates, bar
When: Tuesday-Thursday: 12-15 / 17-23
Friday: 12-15 / 17-12
Saturday: 12 noon to 12 noon
Sunday-Monday: closed
Independent or chain: Sovereign
Decor
We’ve really been spoiled for choice with the number of ramen restaurants popping up in Manchester recently. Everyone takes on their own personality.
House of Fu – influencer friend who is always ready to have a fun night.
Maki & Ramen – golden retriever energy (maybe it’s a drum?)
New Wave is a great friend who got into Berghain but didn’t tell anyone because they have much more interesting things to say.
It’s gone for a minimalist, industrial vibe. Smooth edges, tall pillars and plastered walls.
I suppose sitting at the bar would be fun, the kitchen looked impeccably clean with large recirculation lamps hanging above the worktop. I heard a rumor that there is a noodle box. An entire box to store all your fresh noodles – organization at its best.
After sitting down, I distinctly remember feeling like I was in one of those American classroom desk and chair combos. Once I figured out how to sit and breathe at the same time, I was able to take on the rest of the decor. The dimly lit back room was dotted with Japanese art.
It felt authentic to what I suspect an industrial Japanese apartment would feel like, which fits nicely with the Izakaya style of dining. Izakaya, which the Japanese use to describe a place where you can grab a drink, relax, eat and have a good time, has been passed by the New Wave team. Although it felt incredibly claustrophobic at my table, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.
The main event
New Wave (or Second Wave) hails from the humble Mackie Mayor and always serves up delicious bowls of tasty ramen. I was hoping the new Tib Lane site would impress.
New Wave seems to have the trifecta of founders in place. Phil Cook, Matt Walsh and Elliott Williams have all spent time in Japan and developed a passion for Japanese cuisine, seem like a great starting point for a successful ramen restaurant. With impressive resumes and plenty of noodle-making experience, Phil Cook and Matt Walsh bring exciting twists to the solid foundation of their tasty new menu. To top it all off, Elliot Williams, DJ and Editors’ keyboard player, offers his own ambient playlist to accompany the food. We are truly spoiled!
Now to the important thing – the food. Have you ever looked at a mackerel and thought “that’s cute”? No, me neither – until the mackerel with its burnt cucumber ponzu came out. Why did the fish look so cute? They tasted fresh, smoky and tangy all at once – a nice little trip for the taste buds. In fact, it was so good that the tongue piercing fell off mid-meal.
Next came the lamb chops, which aren’t quintessentially Japanese, so they felt a bit out of place, but were succulent and tasty nonetheless. If you’re going to offer something off the mark, at least do it well. No complaints there.
We ordered padron peppers on a skewer, hoping that it might come with some kind of twist. The twist was actually in the skewer. They tasted like padron peppers. Nothing to write home about, so I’ll leave it at that.
We were especially excited about the duck stock, a new addition to the menu. Jonathan Schofield poetically describes it as “a classy sausage sandwich”. Sausage sandwiches are notoriously delicious, and this one was no different. I can confirm that it was indeed duck, not pork, which was cooked to perfection, and the milk bread is made in house by talented chefs.
We had the deli mushroom miso ramen for the last episode of Main course. It was a soy mushroom broth topped with miso and pickled mushrooms and celery.
I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first, but maybe because it wasn’t the taste I expected in Ramen. Once I got used to it, I began to thoroughly enjoy how the sharpness of the pickled vegetables cut through the creamy miso flavor. It made the bowl memorable, which is more than I can say for most ramen I’ve tried in the past.
The expertly cooked noodles were topped with a whole salted egg. I was nervous to cut into it because all I wanted in my life was a jam egg. I was also particularly nervous that the egg was going to fly across the room, but after opening it with my chopsticks, I was delighted to see the prize inside!
We ended up with the Black Sesame Cheesecake, which was perhaps the most decidedly unsweet dessert ever, but for some reason I couldn’t stop eating it. Even the crunchy black sesame topping somehow disappeared.
All this was washed down with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, which was particularly enjoyable. So enjoyable that I actually lied… we had two bottles. I also tried the Ginger and Mandarin Espresso Martini-esque drink. It didn’t work for me, the coffee and ginger were just too bitter and the tangerine didn’t do much to sweeten the deal. Next time I would like to try the Sake, which they say they have a decent collection.
Doomsday
New Wave is another great addition to the ramen scene and Tib Lane. The staff were really welcoming and happy to tell us about what we had. It was all smiles (you’d think if you had to eat noodles every day?).
This isn’t just another ramen joint. The owners and chefs are clearly trying new things – most of which are absolute hits – while still keeping a firm grip on the authentic and comforting flavors that Japanese food is famous for.
If you like ramen, try New Wave first – you won’t be disappointed!
Score
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If you would like to see the receipt as proof that this magazine paid for the meal, a copy is available upon request. Or ask about the restaurant.
Venues are classified according to the best examples of their type. By this we mean that a restaurant that strives to be fine dining is compared to other fine dining restaurants, an average restaurant to other average restaurants, a pizzeria to other pizzerias, a tea shop to other tea shops, KFC to the contents of your trash can. You will receive a message.
Based on the above, we score as follows: 1-5: Saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9: Sigh and shake your head, 10-11: If you’re a passer, 12-13: Good, 14- 15: Very good, 16- 17: excellent, 18-19: pure class, 20: nothing so good?
15.5/20
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Food
Mackerel 9, lamb chop 8.5, Padron 6, Duck Sando 8.5, Miso Ramen 8, cheesecake 6.5
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Service
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Atmosphere