The Trishaw: De Beauvoir

For a long time now, the only Asian restaurants between Shoreditch and Dalston was just Vietnamese. Now, there is Tonkotsu East for ramen (new post soon) and this cute little Toconoco cafe that is family / baby friendly.

The counter where you order

The interior is all white and wooden, typically minimalist of the Japanese style. The counter where you order, is the barista and entrance to the kitchen on the left. The shelves below the counter were filled with many useful Japanese ingredients, it makes it much more convenient for us to get Japanese ingredients now. No need to track all the way to Chinatown.

Loving the tree branch decor with lights on the ceiling

Black sesame latte, cappuccino, cupcake

The black sesame latte was so good, we came back in the afternoon for more. The cupcake though was stale, probably from the day before.

Egg miso mayo with spring onion, sesame oil and chilli flake on toast

Toast

Salted kombu rice balls and miso soup; green tea latte

Although simple, it was tasty and comforting. Will be back for more rice balls.

Turkey and tofu burger with rice and miso soup was the lunch set of the day.

The lunch set changes daily.

Tofu and turkey burger? Interesting or weird? Well, we tried it out and it was really succulent and delicious. Feels so homey too. The only thing weird we found was the miso soup which was served with potatoes in it. Well, I'm not Japanese. Maybe that's what they serve at home in Japan, but it was the first for us.

If you know anything about potato in miso, please let me know. I am curious to find out.

The cafe is located just off the canal, a few minutes walk from the Proud Archivist

Smile..

I'm in love with this cafe. It is nothing fancy, just a cosy and family friendly cafe in the perfect location by the canal that serves homey Japanese food.

Note: The lunch menu serves from 12pm onwards and the cafe closes early, between 6pm to 6:30pm so come in early.

Frown..

The close really early, about 6:30pm so it is impossible to make weekday after work dinner.

Will I return?

Already been there twice in one day. So, the answer is YES!

Toconoco

28 Hertford Road
N1 5QT London,UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7249 8394

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Here in Tonkotsu, they make their own noodles. There is a large machine in a room at the end of the restaurant with glass divider that is see through. If you come for early lunch, you will be able to see the noodles in the making where a man operates the machine and make sure the noodles come out the way they are suppose to be, silky smooth and bouncy.

Tonkotsu

Tonkotsu is a bowl of tasty noodles with very rich chicken and pork based broth which I find slightly salty, though my dining companion liked it very much. The egg is as usual, cooked to perfection.

The man operating the noodle machine

Tokyo Ramen with additional egg

The Tokyo Ramen was by far my favourite amongst the three noodles I have tried here at Tonkotsu East. It has soy sauce base broth, so it is lighter than its Tonkotsu counterpart that has richer and thicker broth. This time around, we ordered extra egg each for our noodles so no one's egg will be stolen mid way through our meal. Yes, the egg is that good. I suggest you do the same.

Chicken Karaage - Fried marinated chicken

Very crispy and tasty chicken karaage that I strongly recommend you try.

Tsukumen - Noodles is served with a separate bowl of hot intense broth as a dipping sauce

Tsukumen seems to be popular amongst my Japanese friends. They always get excited when they saw tsukumen on the menu. Tsukemen is a bowl of cold noodles and its toppings served with a separate bowl of hot and intense broth. The broth has to be very hot and the cold noodles when dipped into the broth will warm up the noodles. I quite like it but was not my favourite. Maybe the broth was not hot enough so when I had the noodles, it was not warm enough for my liking. Taste-wise was nice. The Japanese friend I was with that evening marked it 70% so it is not a bad version.

What I thought was a cute toilet sign at Tonkotsu East. A pretty clear sign.

Here's a video on 'How to eat Ramen' from the movie Tampopo