Kensington is a tricky one for casual dining. There are plenty of lovely restaurants, sure, but it can often feel like you’re choosing between polished Italian restaurants, smart cafés and high-street chains. Sometimes you just want somewhere a bit cooler. Somewhere informal, fun and easy, where you can turn up hungry, order far too much food and not feel like you need to make an occasion out of it.

That’s just the vibe we were after when we visited Bone Daddies in Kensington.

What is Bone Daddies?

Bone Daddies first arrived in London in Soho in 2012, bringing with it a much more playful approach to Japanese ramen. Rather than anything overly formal or OTT, the whole idea is serving up big bowls of noodles, rich homemade broths, loud music and food you genuinely want to get lost in.

There are now several Bone Daddies restaurants across London, including its original Soho stomping ground, but the Kensington branch feels particularly useful because there simply aren’t that many places around here doing this kind of quick, fun, informal fare.

Inside Bone Daddies High Street Kensington

The first thing that struck me was just how different the restaurant feels from the area around it. Walk inside and polished Kensington disappears.

The interiors are dark and playful, with graphic, comic-book-style artwork covering the walls, cosy booths, floating overhead lanterns and a soundtrack and aesthetic that lean heavily into Bone Daddies’ rock ’n’ roll personality.

We visited during the week, so things were much calmer, with a mixture of locals popping in for dinner and tourists exploring the area.

A Ramen Restaurant That Doesn’t Take Itself Too Seriously

One of my favourite things about Bone Daddies is that the playfulness goes way beyond the interiors.

Ramen is messy. Bone Daddies knows it. There are bibs. There are hair ties if you’d rather not risk dipping the ends of your hair into your broth. And if, like me, you are not exactly a chopstick professional, there are spoons and cutlery without any judgement whatsoever.

On the table you’ll also find sesame grinders and chilli paste so you can tweak your bowl exactly how you like it.

Even the menu feels approachable. There’s a picture menu if you’re not totally familiar with every dish, and the team were genuinely brilliant at talking us through what to order. They were enthusiastic without being pushy, recommending favourites, explaining dishes and chatting away to us throughout the meal. It all felt incredibly relaxed.

What to Order at Bone Daddies Kensington

It would be very easy to think of Bone Daddies purely as somewhere to grab a bowl of ramen, but the snacks and bao deserve just as much attention.

We started with the yuzu miso edamame, a fresher, slightly sharper take on standard salted edamame, before moving onto the Tenderstem broccoli with yuzu kosho mayo.

The broccoli arrived cold, which I actually loved alongside everything else we had ordered. It was crunchy and refreshing, with the creamy, citrusy mayo bringing just enough heat.

Another must-try is the Buldak Tater Tots, topped with spice mix, red chilli pickle, spring onion and buldak mayo. It really is something I’d love the recipe for.

Pillowy Bao Is A Must – Especially The Mushroom!

We tried three: katsu chicken, chashu pork and the Japanese fried oyster mushroom bao.

Going in, I would have confidently assumed either the chicken or pork would be my favourite. I was wrong. The oyster mushroom bao was incredible.

The mushroom had this light, yet crispy coating on the outside while remaining juicy and almost meaty inside. I know comparing mushrooms to chicken is definitely something of a cliché, but the texture really did have that same combination of crunch and tenderness. It was finished with sweet-spicy mayo, chilli, carrot pickle and spring onion, creating the perfect mix of richness, heat and acidity. Even as two very committed meat eaters, we both agreed it was the standout.

The chicken was everything you want from a katsu-style bao: crispy, comforting and coated in silky curry mayo. The chashu pork, meanwhile, was softer and richer, paired with BBQ sauce, chilli and carrot pickle.

Bone Daddies T22 Chicken Ramen

Obviously, we weren’t leaving Bone Daddies without eating ramen. I went for the T22, made with chicken broth and topped with pulled chicken, cock scratchings (AKA crispy chicken skin), onion, beansprouts, nori, spring onion, shiitake mushrooms and half a soy egg.

This is the bowl I’d recommend if you want something comforting and packed with flavour without going straight for one of the heavier pork broths. The pulled chicken was soft and generous, while the crispy chicken skin added exactly the kind of salty crunch a bowl of ramen needs.

And then, let’s take a moment for the broth. This is where that long cooking process makes sense. It was rich without feeling oily, deeply savoury without being overwhelmingly salty, and genuinely good enough that by the end I was essentially drinking it from the bowl.

Don’t Leave Without Trying the Matcha French Toast

The Kinako French Toast with matcha soft serve is the sweet to order, no question about it.

The French toast was warm, fried and slightly caramelised around the outside, with that cinnamon-sugar, almost brown-sugar sweetness that makes it impossible to stop picking at. Then pair that with the Matcha soft serve. It was subtle, creamy and surprisingly refreshing against the sweetness of the toast.

Is Bone Daddies Kensington One For The List?

YES. Particularly if, like me, you sometimes struggle to find somewhere around Kensington that feels genuinely casual and cool without simply falling back on the same handful of chains.

The food also comes out incredibly quickly. Our starters and bao arrived in under ten minutes, with the ramen following shortly afterwards, making this a particularly useful spot if you’re heading to the Royal Albert Hall, exploring the museums or simply want a good dinner without committing to an entire evening around it.

Prices are reasonable for the area too, with ramen sitting around the mid-teens and the menu designed so you can either grab one bowl or turn dinner into a full-on feast of bao, snacks and noodles.

Most importantly, Bone Daddies manages to inject a little bit of chaos and personality into a part of London that can sometimes feel just a little too polished.

Book your table here.

The post Bone Daddies Kensington Review: Rock ’n’ Roll Ramen That Will Leave You Wanting More appeared first on Luxe Bible Digital Lifestyle Magazine.

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