Shoryu Ramen to open first UK franchise restaurant

Japanese brand Shoryu Ramen will open its first franchise restaurant in the UK at a site on London’s Kensington High Street this summer.

It will join 11 company-owned Shoryu Ramen outlets in the UK, including nine in London and one each in Manchester and Oxford.

The franchise site will be launched in conjunction with Bowl Life, a subsidiary of Restaurants Inc, a company founder by investor Krishan Katyal and Dominic Ford of Ford Consultancy to launch new restaurant businesses.

Bowl Life plans to open at least three Shoryu Ramen restaurants in and beyond London.

The 70-seat site at 190 Kensington High Street is close to the Design Museum and will sit alongside Megan’s, Gordon Ramsay Street Burger, Balans and Papaya Tree.

Katyal said: “This area of London has a really nice, buzzy vibe throughout the day and evening and has become a very popular destination area for eating and drinking”

Ford added: “We first met Shoryu founder Tak Tokumine in March 2019 and were immediately taken by his genuine passion and belief in Shoryu’s success being down to creating and serving truly authentic ramen dishes – no cutting corners or taking shortcuts to reduce costs.

“This insistence on quality of ingredients and production really resonated with us and is clearly evident across all of their current restaurants.”

Shoryu Ramen specialises in tonkotsu ramen - a thick, rich, white pork soup and thin, straight ramen noodles - which originated in the Hakata district of Fukuoka city on the Japanese island of Kyushu. The restaurant group's was created by Shoryu Ramen’s executive chef Kanji Furukawa who was born and raised in Hakata.

Tokumine, who is also originally from Fukuoka, arrived in the UK in 1975. He opened the Japan Centre retail outlet on London’s Brewer Street in 1980 before going on to create Shoryu Ramen.

Photo: Interior Design by Blenheim Design