The first time I visited Grounded Kitchen in West Bridgford I wasn’t that keen but I am prepared to be proven wrong and felt that it was time to return and give them another go.

It helped that I had seen mention of ramen noodles and dumplings on their menu, neither of which featured the last time I checked them out

As I love both of those types of food I was encouraged to cross back over the threshold once again

DUMPLING MENU

The menu featured a couple of dumpling options, straight up Korean style ones filled with Lamb and a couple of Korean mandu ones filled with chicken or vegetable. All of them were priced at £6.95 for 5 which is fine enough for one person but a rubbish amount for sharing! 🧐🤣

LAMB DUMPLINGS

My first taste was of the Korean Dumplings filled with Lamb, somewhat unexpectedly they looked like a rolled up Tortellini as opposed to a potsticker shape but hey what do I know.

The tightly rolled casing was was a little thicker than I expected, chewy and firm to the bite, it nonetheless was doing an excellent job of encasing the rather tasty chopped up lamb filling.

I was getting sweetness, a little saltiness and a slight hint of spice alongside familiar flavours of soy, ginger, and sesame. Some of that probably was coming from the scattering of sesame seeds, across the top and from the rather lovely sweet chilli dip that came with the bowl.

I liked these and would definitely order again, well actually I did a week later on my next visit

MANDU DUMPLINGS

The chicken dumplings were more like the potsticker style that I love and cherish, Again nice bite to the casing and a well flavoured filling. There was perhaps a little bit too much spice inside these dumplings and it needed a bit of cooling down using the sweet dip that they came with.

They were well made but not sure I would have these ones again, I think I will stick with the lamb ones

I had been very excited to find that they had added Ramen to the menu and was quite hopeful for a nice refreshing bowl of noodles in a steaming broth when I visited.

The menu sounded good ‘Ramen noodles, in our signature flavour broth, pak choi, bean sprouts, lime coriander, spring & crispy onions with sesame seeds’

To that there was a choice of toppings from chicken, angus beef, sizzling prawns, or tofu. I kept it simple opting for chicken

Then they suggested to add a flavour which was when I got a little doubtful, did I really want to mess up the flavour of the broth? Somewhat reticently I chose the ‘most popular’ one which was ‘sweet and spicy gochujang’

CHICKEN RAMEN NOODLE BOWL

My bowl of Ramen noodles with chicken was certainly packed out and it was hard to see the broth and the ramen.

There was a generous toppings of chicken, pile of bean sprouts, and a couple of big leaves of wilted pak choi. A scattering of chopped up scallion an coriander finished off the topping and a dollop of that sweet and spicy gochujang sauce was just visible.

The noodles, once I found them, were decent, the chicken generous and the vegetable bits and pieces were bountiful. The flavour of the broth was lost on me but that was just how they do it here.

Now I have to say that I did like the bowl as it came but I really wished that I had rejected the option of the additional sauce. I don’t think that it needed that and it did mean that the flavour was very much one note. Now if like me you like that particular flavour that is going to be fine but if you just want a simple broth with your ramen noodles I would suggest opting out.

I like the idea of the food at Grounded kitchen and I like the vibe of the place inside. I can see myself returning for some of the dumpling options and I might check out another bowl of ramen noodles without the sauce. It is certainly a decent lunch option in the West Bridgford area

Grounded Kitchen are located at 19 Tudor Square in West Bridgford, Nottingham HG2 6BT. 

You can check them out on their Facebook Page, their Instagram profile, and their Website