House of Fu on Headrow in Leeds is a really great spot to grab a bowl of ramen noodles and a plate of gyoza.

I had this place on my list before we arrived in the city and having seen some glorious pictures of bowls of noodles on social media I knew that I had to come here to dine.

I do love noodles, ramen especially and I am a total slut for a plate of dumplings of any kind and am always happy with a well made gyoza so I had been researching the noodle scene in Leeds for this trip

The brainchild of Ben Ily they opened back in 2021 having had many successful pop ups since 2014 starting at the Belgrave Music hall and receiving the ‘Best of the Best’ title at the British Street Food awards in that year so this sounded like the place to come

RAMEN MENU

House of Fu offer seven different Ramen bowls featuring both Hakata noodles and Tokyo noodles, including two vegan options, Broth options included Tonkotsu, Chicken, and Pork, and a Shitake dashi. It was hard to choose!

I confess that I just picked out the one that had the most things that I recognised and that I knew I liked such as pork and egg so I chose the ORIGINAL FU RAMEN listed on the menu as “Tonkotsu broth, shoyu & shio tare, Hakata noodles, BBQ chashu pork, menma, spring onion, egg, burnt garlic oil” for £14

ORIGINAL FU RAMEN

I really loved this bowful, the broth had a thick creamy consistency and flavourwise was quite restrained and balanced. You could pick up the taste of the pork in the soup alongside the citrus hints from the shio seasoning and the slight saltiness of the soy from the shoyu tare.

I was very happy with my soft egg, with the half set yolk and enjoyed the two big round slices of Chashu BBQ pork. I wasn’t sure what the burnt garlic oil would bring to the party but it was a very welcome guest with a gentle subtle hint of garlic with a sort of charred smokiness.

Most importanty the long thin straight strands of noodles were bountiful and paired well with this hearty tonkotsu-style broth. They were still a little chewy, so just perfect, holding their own until the end of the meal by which time they had started to soak up the flavours of the soup.

I totally devoured the bowlful eating every single scrap and then lifting the bowl to my mouth to slurp down what was left of the broth. It was a bit messy to eat but I just about got away with it having remembered to wear a black top to hide the spillages that I knew were coming

Immense was my thoughts at the end of the meal, it was everything that I had hoped for in a dish

TERIYAKI CHICKEN

The second dish we had at House of Fu was that of my dining companion who had forgone the opportunity to slurp noodles instead picking from the rice bowls section of the menu plumping for the TERIYAKI CHICKEN

There was a short delay in the arrival of this dish due to some sort of mix up in the kitchen but once our server spotted one of us sitting bereft of food and looking glum it was quickly retrieved and dispatched to our table.

Described as “Chicken thigh, garlic mayo, nori, steamed rice, pickled ginger, egg, spring onion” As rice bowls go this one did look very appetising and certainly a decent sized portion

Eating wise it was a bit richer than expected and once you mixed the sauce into the rice it was slightly salty, not overwhelmingly so but enough to have you thirsty enough to be reaching for a sips of beer. Overall the verdict was that it looked good and it tasted good

SPECIAL GYOZA

We had also ordered a portion of the SPECIAL GYOZA to start with and it is to my discredit that I forgot to note down what they were filled with. I recall that it was some sort of spicy mince either pork or lamb, whatever it was it was delicious.

I loved all the extra touches that came with it, the pink slices of pickled ginger, the crunchy bits, and the chopped up scallions. The only slight moan would be that they were folded quite loosely so I had to eat mine in a single mouthful as they fell apart a bit when I tried to take a bite. I mean that wasn’t a problem I have a big gob!

The Gyoza were £6.50 for 6 pieces which is perfect for sharing, I really get wound up when you get 3 or 5 so that you either miss out when your dining partner snags the last one or have to go through the pointless ordeal of chopping the last one in half which ruins the whole integrity of the dumpling. I digress badly as we had no such issue here at House of Fu where, to their credit, they are well on top of the dumpling sharing game! Nice work guys!

I would have dumplings again here but next time I probably won’t share I could easily eat a plateful all by myself as well as another bowl of ramen noodles, so I will!

Now I haven’t been to Japan so I have not dined at the source but I have eaten enough ramen noodles around and about to know that the ones here at House of Fu are really jolly good

I don’t know what other diners think of this place but judging by the crowds even early midweek on a rainy day I reckon they all have the same thoughts that I had. It’s a banging joint serving top tier ramen to please the masses.

Upstairs they had karoke booths and I admit I was glad that we were able to avoid that particular activity and I am not sure I wanted to be around when they were in full swing either. Each to their own though and I am sure that it gets the place rocking in the evening

If you want to visit House of Fu you will find them at 15-19 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 6PU

You can also check them out and lots of photos of lovely looking bowls of ramen on their Instagram Profile and get details of the menu and booking on their website, you can also connect through their Facebook page