The company, which brought its business to the UK in autumn 2014, has chosen Covent Garden for the new opening, replacing the former Villiers Café in Villiers Street, just off The Strand.
The new location follows the company’s success in its existing UK sites in Central St Giles and Canary Wharf. The group also operates restaurants, where the Hakata-style ramen dishes were developed, in Japan, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Manhattan.
Signature ramen dishes such as the ‘Shiromaru Classic’ (a traditional pork-based broth ramen), and ‘Akamaru Modern’ (a richer broth, seasoned with garlic oil and Ippudo’s secret recipe miso paste) will form the basis of the menu, with vegetarian versions also available, made with seaweed and mushroom broth.
A selection of sides will sit alongside the ramen menu, combining Japanese flavours with high quality British produce. Unusual offerings such as the Ippudo Caesar Salad will be available, comprising a traditional Caesar salad topped with the restaurant’s homemade salted pork.
The group’s UK expansion began in December 2014, when the group received 2bn yen (£10.5m) from Cool Japan Fund, a Japanese government entrepreneurial fund to strengthen its pipeline of European restaurants
Ippudo was founded in 1985 as an independent ramen restaurant in Fukuoka, Japan, by Shigemi Kawahara. It now operates more than 120 restaurants in 13 countries, serving more than 50,000 bowls of ramen each day.
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