House of Fu, the popular Yorkshire ramen restaurant with a huge following in Leeds, is making its way over to Manchester.
Eyeing up a new home on Portland Street, the restaurant has submitted plans with Manchester City Council to take over the former Leaf site.
Having first begun life as a street food pop-up, House of Fu has revealed it will bring its Toyko and LA-inspired Japanese dishes across the Pennines for the first time – just a year on from opening its first brick and mortar site in Leeds.
Brought to Manchester by the team behind Leeds’ Belgrave Music Hall, Headrow House and Ox Club, diners can look forward to a range of different umami-rich ramen and noodle dishes, as well as dumplings, small plates and sides when it opens its doors later this year.
As for drinks, think frozen yuzu margaritas, homemade kombucha and cans of session sake from Kampai, as well as.a solid sake and wine list and craft beers sourced from local breweries.
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Image: The Hoot Leeds
Fried cauliflower with gochujang hot sauce, house shichimi spice blend, sesame and QP vegan mayo. / Image: The Hoot
House of Fu’s pork gyoza are made freshly in the restaurant every day. / Image: The Hoot
From homemade gyoza to handmade noodles sourced right here in Manchester, there’s a lot to get excited about – all thanks to head chef Ben Iley, who spent nearly a decade at some of Japan’s finest restaurants before coming home to work on the House of Fu project.
With an impressive CV that includes Aquavit, The Tokyo American Club and Fujimamas, he landed in Leeds following nine and a half years Japan, only to be introduced to the Belgrave team ‘the very same day.’.
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From that initial introduction, it would take six years for the concept to fully come to fruition – first beginning life as award-winning street food pop-up Fu-Schnickens before ultimately becoming the ramen restaurant it is today, with Ben taking a short detour into live fire cooking as the Head Chef at Ox Club somewhere in the middle.
Original Fu ramen in a tonkatsu broth, and fried cauliflower. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
When House of Fu opened in Leeds last summer, he told The Hoot: “I first met these guys and we spoke about doing this in 2014.
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“The year that I was over in Japan, the guys behind this, Ben Davey included, who was working in Belgrave at the time, had a pop-up […] doing bao buns, chicken wings and that kind of thing, and that’s the year that they won best street food of the year or whatever it was, so they thought right, ok, we’ve got something here, let’s expand and look at building a restaurant, let’s do ramen […] and so they needed to find someone who could do ramen.
“Probably the day that I arrived back from Japan, a mutual friend between myself and Ash hooked us up and said ‘this guy’s just come back from Japan, these guys want to do ramen, like off you go!’ and I was like ‘wow, what an amazing opportunity.'”
In the summer of 2019, ahead of opening the first House of Fu site, Ben took the directors on a intense three-night dash through Tokyo – all eating and drinking their way in a blur across the city in the name of research.
Ramen choices range here from classic tonkatsu broths to miso chicken and mushroom options, and a special ‘green ramen’ made using a shitake dashi. Prices sit between £12 and £14 for ramen bowls, with diners given the option to add on ingredients to suit themselves from just £2 each.
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There are also rice bowls and ‘super bowls’ to choose from, as well as sides like kimchi, chilli crunch rice and a ‘sunshine salad’ with Japanese radish, mizuna, jalapeno and yuzu.
Having been incredibly well-received in their hometown, House of Fu is now branching out with a second site here in Manchester.
The new restaurant is tipped to open in early 2023, although an exact opening date is still yet to be confirmed.
Owners Simon Stevens and Ashley Kollakowski said of finding their ideal Manchester site at Bruntwood Works’ West Village Building: “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!”
Feature image – The Hoot
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Salford RLFC issue statement as head coach Mike Grady departs after less than three months
Danny Jones
Salford Rugby League Football Club have issued an official statement following the departure of head coach Mike Grady, who has left the role after less than three months in the job.
It has been insisted that this is not a sacking, but rather a joint decision to terminate his contract.
Grady, who took up the mantle at the start of this project following the end of the Salford Red Devils era, was only appointed on 5 January.
He had previously been in charge of the Red Devils’ women’s side over the past couple of years, but moved over to hopefully lead this new era forward.
As you can see, the club confirmed in a statement that they and Grady have “mutually agreed to part ways due to changes in his personal circumstances.”
They go on to write: “We are forever indebted to Mike for his unwavering commitment to the club. We want to thank him for all his hard work since taking on the role as Head Coach in very challenging circumstances in December.”
Also sharing a comment from former player turned CEO, Ryan Brierley, he said: “Mike came in as Coach at a time when the club had just come through one of its toughest times with the double impact of relegation and liquidation.
“He was willing to roll up his sleeves and bring stability to the club on the pitch. The fact we were able to field a team against Oldham in January, after only three weeks, speaks volumes about his commitment and determination. To beat Hunslet at home only four weeks later was a fantastic achievement.
“Mike will always be remembered as the person [who] strived and achieved the objective of sending out the first Salford team of this new era. A team running onto the pitch, after so much hard work, gave us all something to cheer about. We also remember how well he successfully guided our women’s team to third and fourth place finishes in the Championship.”
Sharing his own farewell message, he went on to add: “I want to thank Ryan for the opportunity to represent this great club and fan base. What we created at the start of the year was pretty special, and I’m proud to have built that.
“I’m happy to leave the club in a better place than I found it and wish the club all the best for the future.” Salford RLFC have already assured that they are now recruiting for his replacement.
Price caps and standardisations to be introduced for vet care in UK following major investigation
Emily Sergeant
Reforms to the veterinary industry to help pet owners better navigate the vet services market are set to be introduced this year.
After an independent inquiry group recently found that the current system is leaving pet owners ‘in the dark’, with a lack of information to help make informed decisions leading to weak competition and high prices, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has this week concluded its investigation into veterinary services for household pets in the UK.
The final report green-lights a package of measures to make the market more competitive, easier to navigate, and more responsive to pet owners’ needs.
It outlines the final remedies and recommendations, which together, will transform the market.
Remedies and recommendations in the report range from price caps and standardisations, through to upfront cost transparency.
We’ve set out major reforms to the UK’s veterinary sector now our market investigation is complete.
Our reforms will help pet owners better navigate the vet services market and will start coming into force later this year.
— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) March 24, 2026
Practices will soon be required to publish a comprehensive price list for standard services – including consultations, common procedures, diagnostics, written prescriptions and cremation options – so pet owners know up-front how much certain services are expected to cost.
They’ll also have to make it clear whether they are part of a group or an independent business, and provide a written estimate in advance for any treatment expected to cost £500 or more (including aftercare costs), plus an itemised bill.
Written prescription fees are set to be capped at £21 for the first medicine, and then £12.50 for any additional medicines.
Price caps and standardisations are set to be introduced for vet care in UK / Credit: Pxhere
There’s also set to be changes to the complaints process, as practices will now be required to follow a transparent, accessible, in-house complaints process, and engage in mediation where disputes cannot be resolved.
The CMA says an ‘unprecedented’ response from both the public and the sector has helped to shape the final report.
The next step is for the Government to respond to the report formally – with Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, commenting: “We are grateful for all the work of the Competition and Markets Authority, and we will respond to the report and set out next steps for our proposed reforms in due course.
“This Government is focused on helping families save money on vet services by improving transparency and choice around pricing, so the public can make informed decisions about their pets’ care.”
Georgina Pellant -
27th June 2022 
