Ramen Dayo! – ramendayo.com
Gordon Lane, 9 Gordon St, Glasgow, G1 3PL
Ramen Dayo is a new Japanese ramen bar and restaurant. It currently resides in the former Laneways location down Gordon Lane. They’ve given the place a cosmetic update, with the only remaining reminder of Laneways being that red strip curtain at the back. The casual old-school-desk style seating has been replaced with small wooden sheltered stools and tables. And there are lanterns a-plenty.
Ramen Dayo opened around December 2nd I believe, and I visited maybe a week or two after this. I went on a Saturday night around 7.30pm, and we had a 20-25 minutes wait which was fine. It is small, so be prepared to hang around a little if you’re going at peak times. Everytime I’ve wandered by it’s always pretty packed.
One thing I do want to note is its location. Bear in mind the restaurant is down an alley and it’s currently the middle of a Glasgow winter, so it’s not going to be the cosiest of settings. I personally love the blend of restaurant-come-al-fresco dining, but it probably is going to be more enjoyable in the warmer months. Just for those of you who might be bothered about that kind of thing.
Tonkotsu (a few variations of) and Tantanmen were the two ramen options on offer at the time of my visit. I believe Ramen Dayo have now added a vegan/veggie option which is great news. I opted for the Tonkotsu Miso Black and a side of chicken gyozas. Ramen Dayo cooks their ramen broth for over 20 hours. I guess this attributes to how rich the flavours were in the dish – winner. The gyozas were great, but I don’t really think you can go wrong there. Portion sizes were pretty reasonable – not huge, but filling. It’d probably be the perfect midweek lunch treat.
I’ve seen some people with their negative thoughts on the food/service, and although I would normally touch on things like that, I’m willing to ignore it in this case. Issues like that can be expected and more easily forgiven with new/small/pop-up businesses. I appreciate the challenges and think the team here are doing a great job. They’re serving excellent food at reasonable prices. I’ve never been to Japan but I like to think I’ve had a few ‘authentic’ Japanese ramen dishes. It certainly didn’t disappoint either of us and I would highly recommend popping in if you’re in the area. I look forward to how their menu will expand in future.
P.S. Ramen Dayo currently run a weekly competition over on their Instagram. If you post a photo and tag them in it, you’re in with a chance of winning a prize. I was lucky enough to bag a free ramen – and the new veggie option has my name all over it! So go on, share the love. And thanks for reading.
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