MasterChef winner Tim Anderson to double up with a second Nanban

Translated as ‘southern barbarian,’ a term that was once used to describe the first European visitors to Japan many centuries ago, Nanban celebrates ‘the barbaric side of Japanese cuisine’, throwing the spotlight on Japanese dishes of foreign origin and incorporating the international flavours of its Brixton Market location into its dishes to create Japanese soul food.

Called Nanban Central, the second restaurant will continue this approach using local produce from the market’s Cucumber Alley, where fresh produce will be sourced and sold daily.

Dishes will include a choice of three ramens, such as a dry lamb curry ramen with padron peppers, tea-picked egg and an added British twist of Montgomery cheddar. The restaurant will also serve two weekly changing dishes inspired by the market’s Cucumber Alley produce, including a market ramen featuring rotating seasonal ingredients, and market hiyashi chuka, a cold ramen noodle salad.

“With Nanban first starting off as a pop-up through to our Brixton Market restaurant, I’m extremely proud to be bringing our unique, eclectic flavours to London’s newest market in the heart of the city,” says Anderson.

“At Nanban we celebrate Japanese food mixed with international flavours and seasonal ingredients, so I’m very excited to see what we come up with when being surrounded by the inspiring street food traders and chefs and Cucumber Alley’s fresh produce.”

The original Nanban opened in 2015 following Anderson claiming the title of the 2011 winner of MasterChef.

Nanban Central will join traders at KERB’s Seven Dials Market that include Club Mexicana, Yum Bun, INK, Square Root, Rice Guys and the world’s first cheese conveyor belt restaurant Pick & Cheese.

It will also be home to Strozzapreti, a new past restaurant from the team behind pizza chain Franco Manca. The market is due to open in September.