Sumisu Ramen, Stooge Coffee, Trinity Street Hastings: review

I seem to spend my time in Hastings in little rooms eating lovely things. There are worse ways to spend your life, I suppose, and here’s the latest: the twice-weekly Sumisu Ramen popup from husband and wife team James and Ai.

The town library, the Grade II-listed Brassey Institute, seems to looms over Trinity Street in the America Ground (There’s a fascinating insight into the area’s radical early 19th century past here, courtesy of The Hastings Independent) as you near Stooge Coffee. Sumisu has run as a popup here on Friday and Saturday evenings only for the past three years, and previously at George Street’s Ladle pasta bar, reviewed in January).

It’s the result of a benign obsession which began about twelve years ago with James’ first taste of ramen: instantly smitten after a meal in Chiba with Ai’s family, he spent the rest of his time in Japan trying as many other varieties of ramen as possible. The passion for making it came later, though; back in Hastings, finding nowhere local doing it well and gripped with a proselytising fervour for others to experience what he had, Sumisu was born. The aim? To make ramen that he’d be happy eating not just in Hastings or the UK, but in Japan itself.

There are books to while away the time- The Moomins, a guide to Azerbaijan, the mighty Philomena Cunk’s ‘On Everything’- for the room’s daytime use, but your attention will undoubtedly be elsewhere.

There are no frills here, no superfluous gussying-up. Subtle details abound, though, and there’s an elegance to the tableware, from the intricate swirls of the bowls to the hand-carved spoons and the chopsticks in dark wood, the grain visible along their length. There’s a simple beauty to both, everyday tools made by someone who cared about how they would look and feel in your hand, a world away from plastic and disposables.

The menu has remained pretty much the same since Sumisu started five years ago. It’s short and to the point, which is not uncommon in many Japanese ramen shops, specialising in just dumplings and a couple of varieties of ramen. Three bowls, each at £14.75 and including a soy milk vegan tantanmen, and two gyoza (£4.75); and it’s those gyoza- plump, juicy, and clearly homemade, which is much rarer than you’d hope or think- which tell you you’re sitting at the right table tonight.

They are gently fried to a light crust on one side, then steamed to a finish. The sweetness of the prawns, the little pops of alium, make these a lovely way to start; the mushroom variety are even better. So good, I get up after the first bite and order another portion. They emphasise the meatiness of the mushrooms with a delicate sweetness. A simple dipping sauce Japanese soy, rice wine vinegar, is just the thing.

Shoyu has a light, clear broth: it feels immediately restorative. Nurturing. It’s all very deftly judged: this feels like a bowl which has been less poured, than pored over. It’s all there in the details: it’s in the bite to the wheat noodles, it’s in the way the chashu pork (I order an extra slice-of course I do) is cut thick, unlike the waif-like slices you might find elsewhere.

The egg? Set just so. The ‘cleanness’ of the soy sauce-rich broth, the slurp and bite of the wheat noodles: in my Utopian Britain, this will be available- by transfusion, ideally- on the NHS. Whether it’s a gentle umami uplift for those under the weather, anyone feeling a bit jaded, or anyone who just needs a virtual arm around the shoulder: just plug yourself in.

There’s a shift into much bolder territory with the other meaty option: a mix of red and white miso in the soup, pearls of chilli oil dotting the surface of the spicy version, and there’s a palpable heat in that slow-simmered chicken and pork broth. Perhaps the option of additional chilli oil on tables would be an idea for those craving even more heat. This one’s richer, heftier- one to energise and excite, even as it soothes. ‘This is so good I could happily order a bowl of this broth on its own,’ is B’s take, and who am I to argue?

If you’ve had indifferent bowls elsewhere perhaps, this is your reset. Sumisu does things in a way which will make you fall back in love with ramen. A ‘BYOB’ policy, with corkage at £2 (beer) or £5 (wine) doesn’t hurt either.

The name? Sumisu is a direct translation of their surname: Smith. Is it fanciful to imagine it resonates deeper than that, to associations of craftsmanship and skill? Perhaps. Perhaps not. This is food that has been made and served with thought, with pride in a job well done. Either way, Sumisu is somewhere you need to know about.

Sumisu Ramen
Friday and Saturday, from 6pm
4 Trinity St, Hastings TN34 1HG

Sumisu Ramen on Instagram or
book via email: sumisuramen@gmail.com.

Stooge Coffee
9–3.30 Mon–Fri, 9–4 Sat