If you went back in time to a decade ago, you’d probably find people that knew about the Japanese noodle dish, ramen – especially in the South West. These days, Bristol has a handful of amazing ramen bars – and we couldn’t imagine tackling the flu or a hangover without a big savoury bowl of noodle soup and mouthwatering toppings. The London-based ramen specialists, Tonkotsu, are a big part of that change.
Tonkotsu was at the forefront of London’s ramen craze when it launched in Soho in 2012 by co-founders Ken Yamada and Emma Reynolds.Since then, the restaurant has continued to produce high quality ramen from scratch – making all its own noodles, stocks, and gyoza fresh each day. Not the ramen restaurant will bless Bristol with a new restaurant this year.
We can’t wait to sample everything from Tonkotsu’s namesake with pork belly to the vegetarian curried pumpkin and spiced corn ramen. While alongside the restaurants’ addictive bowls of ramen, you’ll also never get bored of their handmade gyoza and famous chicken kara-age. You’ll be able to enjoy Tonkotsu’s entire menu from 12pm – 10pm daily when it opens on Baldwin Street later this year.
“After fighting through the last couple of years of Brexit, Covid and inflation, we’ve come out the other side confident and excited about the future,” said Ken Yamada, Tonkotsu co-founder. “With continued progressive menu development and strong operations, we’ve been outperforming the market for the last six months, and I’m sure this Bristol restaurant will add to the ongoing strong group performance”.
This will be Tonkotsu’s 17th restaurant in total, but only its third outside of London. The Bristol site will join locations in Birmingham and Brighton expanding the popular ramen restaurant outside of the capital, while another London restaurant will also open this year.
To coincide with the news, Tonkotsu will also be launching a range of smaller-sized ramen across all its sites. Beforehand a limited range was always available as part of the lunch deal, but this will expand to include all ramen on the menu and available day and night.
So when can we expect to see Tonkotsu on our streets? Unfortunately there is currently no confirmed opening date, but Tonkotsu will open on 12 Baldwin Street sometime in 2023.