Set to open on Baldwin Street in September, the restaurant will join 15 sites in London as well as locations in Birmingham and Brighton.
Like the rest of the estate, the Tonkotsu’s Bristol site will major in ramen made with the group’s own fresh noodles made in-house daily using mid-century noodle machines imported from Tokyo.
All Tonkotsu’s bone broths are handmade over a two-day cooking process to ‘get the maximum flavour into each bowl of ramen’.
Options include the group’s signature Tonkotsu ramen (a rich and creamy pork bone-broth enriched with lardo, with thin-cut noodles and topped with roast pork belly, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, spring onions, burnt garlic oil and a seasoned egg); and Chilli Chicken Ramen – (a chicken and sea salt broth with Tonkotsu’s Eat the Bits Chili Oil); and the vegan Mushroom Miso Ramen.
Supporting dishes include gyoza, kara-age, and vegan-friendly cauliflower ‘wings’.
Tonkotsu is working with Bristol-based artist Molly Hawkins to create a large mural inside the restaurant, using her signature bold and colourful style of cut-out shapes and patterns to ‘bring diners joy whilst slurping their ramen’.
Tonkotsu was launched in Soho in 2012 by co-founders Ken Yamada and Emma Reynolds, and in 2019 secured a £5m investment from YFM Equity Partners.