ICHIBUNS opens debut site in London's Chinatown
The new Japanese-inspired dining concept promises luxury fast food.
Shaftesbury has announced that ICHIBUNS has opened its debut site at 22 Wardour Street in Chinatown London.
The 3,900 square feet space which seats 130 across three floors is designed by Noriyoshi Muramatsu of Tokyo’s Studio Glitt. The store features a Tokyo rock-and-roll interior inspired by 50’s and 60’s Japanese subcultures and the American diner. The walls are lined in a variety of Japanese items including manga comics, vintage newspapers, and Japanese fishing flags.
In addition to table service, guests can order from a concrete takeaway counter moulded to represent Japanese granite. On the lower ground floor, a bar area features a wall lined with Japanese pachinko machines and another with Japanese craft beer cans.
The menu offers a selection of Hokkaido-inspired cuisine, including the Wagyu beef burger, ramen, Coco Whip soft serve, shakes and custom cocktails available until midnight during the week and midnight at weekends. The concept is born by the founders of Nobu and Ping Pong.
Shaftesbury’s group restaurant strategy executive Julia Wilkinson said, “We are thrilled ICHIBUNS has opened their debut site in Chinatown London, creating a truly unique Wagyu beef experience in an Instagrammer’s heaven. The capital already boasts one of the world’s most exciting gourmet burger scenes, and ICHIBUNS’ innovative and alternative take on a hugely popular food trend, makes them an exciting new addition to Chinatown London’s food operators where the best authentic Chinese and East Asian traditions meet modern dining experiences.”
ICHIBUNS’s Benjamin Goldkorn added, “We are delighted to have opened our first restaurant in such an eclectic and high quality dining and cultural destination. Our focus on Japanese inspired ingredients and prime cuts of delicious beef, meant securing a location popular with food-loving and culturally inquisitive consumers was important to us. We therefore could not have asked for a better site than on Wardour Street, in the beating heart of Chinatown London.”
