Food & Drink

London’s popular ramen restaurant to pop-up in Manchester

Kanada-Ya's signature Tonkotsu ramen bowl features a top-secret sauce imported from the original restaurant in Japan.

Georgina Pellant - 3rd August 2021

London’s most popular ramen restaurant is teaming up with the chefs at New Wave Ramen in Mackie Mayor for a one-off takeover next week.

Kanada-Ya specialises in authentic Tonkotsu ramen and is generally considered one of the best of its kind in the capital.

First founded by Kanada Kazuhiro in Yukuhashi Japan back in 2009, the restaurant is known for its signature ramen bowl, which features a top-secret sauce imported from the original restaurant and hand-made by Mr. Kanada himself.

The signature tonkotsu ramen at Kanada-Ya features wood ear mushroom (kikurage), finely sliced spring onion, chashu pork belly, a sheet of nori, and firm but bouncy noodles / Image: instantonium

Based around an extremely time-consuming signature tonkatsu broth, the rest of the signature bowl here is built from wood ear mushroom (kikurage), finely sliced spring onion, chashu pork belly, a sheet of nori, and firm but bouncy noodles.

There’s also an option to add a hanjuku (soft boiled) egg to either dish for an additional £2.

The dining event will run at Mackie Mayor across two days, with tickets to reserve a bowl priced at £10 each.

Dishes will also be available for walk-ins on the day, but it’s recommended you don’t chance it based on how popular New Wave Ramen’s previous takeovers have been.

The restaurant offers whole host of delicious ramen bowls including a truffle bowl, but at the Manchester takeover there will be just two on offer: their signature Tonkotsu and Chicken Paitan / Image: Guan Cha

As well as their signature Tonkotsu ramen, Kanada-Ya will also be offering their signature Chicken Paitan ramen at the takeover with toppings like beni shoga (red pickled ginger), nori, sesame seeds and takana (pickled crunchy mustard leaf).

Ramen-making is definitely a marathon, not a sprint – but it’s the time-consuming preparations that set good bowls like Kanada-Ya’s above the rest.

“Myself and the team at Mackie Mayor are delighted to bring Kanada-Ya to Manchester,” said Philip Cook of New Wave Ramen about the upcoming takeover.

“Their bowls are amongst those that first ignited my own passion for ramen, and an exciting U.K. ramen scene has grown alongside their own expansion over the last seven years. They have to be considered the originators, and our customers in Manchester are in for a real treat.”

Aaron Burgess-Smith of Kanada-Ya added: “New Wave Ramen has given us an incredible opportunity to share the ramen that we’ve been making for the past seven years in London with Manchester.

“Our broth is incredibly rich and overflowing with umami and I’m excited for Mancunians to finally experience it, too.”

With three sites in London to date and plans to open two more in the autumn, who knows – we might even be so lucky as to see one announced in Manchester later this year.

For now, though, this could be your only chance to try their bowls – so we recommend putting 11 and 12 August in your diaries immediately.

Find Kanada-Ya popping up in the New Wave Ramen kitchen at Mackie Mayor next week. Grab your tickets here.

Feature image – littleobesechildren.