Salvation in Noodles begins London expansion
The brainchild of Colin Tu, previously of London’s Big Dirty Burger pop up, Salvation in Noodles reflects its’ founders background by meshing Vietnamese and British influences.
“I’m born and bred in the UK, and as much as I am Vietnamese I am British. We serve very traditional Vietnamese food but in a modern setting – we are trying to avoid clichés,” Tu told BigHospitality.
“I realised when I was looking to move out of street food that there was a gap in the market, no one does noodles the way we do. We don’t hold back on flavouring, how you get it in Vietnam is how you get it in the restaurant.”
Expansion in noodles
The new Finsbury Park site will feature a cocktail bar and introduce further dishes to the menu, which will then be rolled out in the original restaurant.
Though the dishes are still being tested, Tu said they would remain traditionally minded: “If you have eaten in Vietnam you would have eaten what is going to be on the menu.”
Tu is currently searching for a third Salvation in Noodles site, which he hopes to open in London by the end of 2015 or early 2016.
“There is a demand for the concept and we are going to try and capitalise on that in either North or South London by opening further sites within the next five years," he said:
National expansion remains ‘down the road’ for now, though Salvation in Noodles would be open to the concept if approached by a potential investor.
Food for the health conscious
Tu credits the growing popularity of Vietnamese food as appealing to an increasingly health conscious consumer.
He said: “Vietnamese food is gluten free, low calorie and fresh and healthy, there is not a lot of frying involved.
“I think now people are very health conscious in London and elsewhere. Vietnamese cuisine is really tasty, has a good punch to it and is also really healthy.
"Eating well has become a habit now, hence the increasing popularity in Vietnamese food which you can see with companies like Pho, which have just opened their 15th site.”
Salvation in Noodles’ Finsbury Park site opens in April 2015. The current site can be found at 122 Balls Pond Rd, Islington, and opens 6-11pm Monday to Friday and 12-11pm on weekends.
