Popular Ramen Chain Moves into Battersea Power Station

Tonkotsu will open their seventh site — their sixth in London — at the Circus West development in Battersea this February, as reported by Big Hospitality.

The popular ramen chain, founded in 2013 by Emma Reynolds and Ken Yamada as an offshoot of Tsuru (now closed) will join Wright Brothers, Copenhagen pizza import Mother and Francesco Mazzei’s Fiume at the development. The news comes in the midst of their internal takeover of Anzu — a "Japanese brasserie" — located at the less-than-successful St. James development. Opening another instalment of their most popular concept while installing it on top of their other is an interesting move, possibly adding fuel to the suspicion that the Anzu takeover is more than temporary. The Battersea restaurant will soft-launch at 50% off on 16 and 17 February, offering classic ramen alongside the usual additional suspects: fried chicken, gyoza, and presumably lashings of their cult chilli oil.

Tonkotsu opened right at the moment that London embraced ramen as a breakout food trend, and has been a staple for many of the city’s diners across its five sites (the sixth is in Birmingham.) More recently it has faced serious competition in the quality stakes from the likes of Kanada-Ya and Ippudo, so the move to expand even further is a strong play against their rivals who cannot match them for ubiquity.