House of Fu heads to Manchester

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Leeds-based ‘day to night’ ramen, cocktail and karaoke bar is doubling up, with a second location set to open in Manchester next month.

Located on Portland Street within the space once occupied by the Architects Society, House of Fu Manchester will have a similar menu to its older sibling offering modern takes on ramen, rice bowls and Japanese small plates.

Open from 11.30am, the venue will have 'state-of-the-art' karaoke rooms, and a private dining room, offering a newly-created feasting menu for parties of up to 30. 

The venue will also have a cocktail bar called Hello that will trade Thursday to Saturday until late.

Simon Stevens and Ashley Kollakowski launched House of Fu as a pop-up at Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds and toured the brand around various venues and music festivals prior to opening a permanent site in 2021 on The Headrow. 

“Manchester is home to some of our favourite restaurants and shops and it’s been great getting to know the city a little more whilst looking for a home for House of Fu. There’s such an exciting food scene in Manchester and there seems to be more great openings announced every week, we’re really excited to be part of it,” the pair say. 

“We’ve developed some incredible new dishes for the Manchester menu which we can’t wait to share with you alongside the obvious hits like our spicy tantanmen and the sleeper fave, the cucumber salad.”

Ben Iley, a long-time collaborator of the team who once ran the kitchen at Leeds restaurant Ox Club is 'the engine' driving forward 'a creative kitchen team' and will oversee Manchester operations. 

Iley cut his teeth working alongside world renowned chefs including Marcus Samuelsson, Bill Granger and most notably Ivan Orkin, the chef behind the internationally-acclaimed Ivan Ramen.

“Going for a bowl was the thing to do in Tokyo, it was almost a competition amongst friends to take the group to their newest find or introduce them to their favourite neighbourhood ramen bar. It’s that excitement and love for a good bowl we want to bring to Manchester."

"Whilst the core menu will consist of some firm favourites, each week the kitchen team will be challenging their creativity, producing their own specials to serve up so our guests can enjoy something different and new every time they visit. We want House of Fu to be somewhere chefs want to train as much as they want to eat.”