Kanada-Ya returns to expansion trail with Westfield opening

23-Jul-2024 - Last updated on 23-Jul-2024 at 11:45 GMT

Japanese ramen group Kanada-Ya is to launch its first London restaurant in nearly two years with a new opening at Westfield shopping centre in White City.

Taking the former Balans site, it will be the group’s sixth UK site and offer both dine-in and take-away.

Kanada-Ya was founded in Japan in 2009 by ex-pro cyclist turned ramen chef Kanada Kazuhiro and launched its first site in London in Covent Garden in 2014.

It subsequently opened restaurants in Piccadilly, Angel, Carnaby and, most recently, Ealing, which launched in September 2022.

The Westfield restaurant will seat 46 covers with 40 additional spaces outside and feature ‘sleek and modern’ design elements with an open plan kitchen and contemporary interiors.

It will serve a similar menu to the brand’s other restaurants, offering the same selection of ramen dishes including tonkotsu with pork bone broth, chashu pork belly, wood ear fungus, seaweed and spring onion; chashu-men with chashu pork collar; cold yuzu ramen with yuzu shoyu broth; and truffle ramen with porcini truffle paste and white truffle oil.

There’s also a range of small plates including spicy chicken karaage; chashu don with white rice, seared chashu pork, donji sauce and spring onion; and pork gyoza.

Drinks will include sake, wine and beers such as Kirin and Hobgoblin IPA.

Alongside its London estate, Kanada-Ya operates sites in Japan, Hong Kong and Spain.