Fuji Hiro, Leeds

Normal service is resumed. After all the gadding about in Croatia, London and Kent over the last week or so I've finally made it home, and on Friday night I finally made it to Fuji Hiro. I don't know how long Fuji Hiro has been around for, but it's a long time. I must have been planning to go for at least seven years, attracted by its solid reputation for good quality, fairly priced Japanese noodle dishes. I'm pleased to report it lived up to expectations.

The menu is concise. There is a page of side dishes (mostly gyoza and yakitori in various guises), a page of ramen (soup noodle dishes), a page of stir-fried noodle dishes and a page of something and rice dishes (katsu curry and the like). There is also a meal deal available at all times, that will get you any side dish, any main dish and a bottle of beer for £15. Taking up the meal deal offer I opted for ebi gyoza (prawn dumplings) and chilli beef ramen.

The gyoza were very good if a bit greasy, they were lightly fried to give one edge a nice crust and the prawn filling was sweet and fresh.

The ramen had a deeply savoury chicken stock base, and the beef was a sliced sirloin steak just dropped into the broth to allow it to poach a little and stay rare inside. Lovely. There were also quite a few different vegetables in the mix, including leeks which added a nice touch of sweetness. The noodles themselves were fine, though I'm a novice when it comes to Japanese food so I'm not really sure what texture they should have. As ever with soup noodle dishes the serving was huge.

Overall a very good meal with friendly service. Independent places like Fuji Hiro really are an asset to Leeds, especially at a time when every new opening seems to be another chain. The food here is made with a level of care and attention that you just won't get at a chain restaurant, and is consequently miles better than what you'd get at Wagamama or Tampopo. It's better value too, exactly the same meal (even the same brand of beer) will set you back £21.20 at Wagamama. Go, and don't let the rather down at heel decor (they really should spruce the place up a bit) and out of the way location put you off.

8/10

Fuji Hiro
45 Wade Lane
Leeds
LS2 8NJ