Leading London Ramen Restaurant Is Heading to Islington [Updated]

Updated 19/12: With confirmation from the operators and details of the restaurant.

The ramen restaurant brand, Kanada-Ya, with sites on St Giles High Street (near Soho) and Haymarket, will open a third site, near Angel station in Islington next March, MCA has reported. The company has acquired the site 35 Upper Street, formerly a neighbourhood restaurant called The Fig Tree.

Kanada-Ya is considered one of the best ramen shops in London, launching its first London site on St Giles High Street in 2014 directly opposite Ippudo, a major international ramen chain from Japan. The second branch opened, south of Piccadilly Circus, on Panton Street, in 2015, before the company launched a different home cooking-style concept Machiya next door earlier this year.

Kanada-Ya Upper Street “will offer the same selection of ramen alongside some new additions like gyoza, an extended sake menu and a small list of cocktails inspired by Japan,” a statement said. The restaurant will seat 55 customers over one floor in a space that includes an open kitchen, as at the original site.

Official

The company — founded by former professional cyclist Kazuhiro Kanada in 2009 — is run by Tony Lam and Aaron Burgess-­Smith in the UK. Kanada-Ya’s original restaurant is in the city of Yukuhashi in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It also operates a site in Hong Kong, with a second planned there for this year.

MCA report that the UK operators have plans to open Machiya in the City and roll it out across London, “if it is successful” as well as to expand the Kanada­-Ya brand to other regions in the UK.

• Kanada-Ya secures Upper St site [MCA/Paywall]