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Japanese ramen restaurant Monohon to open first outlet on Old Street

Monohon, the Japanese pop-up concept, has announced it is to open its first permanent restaurant in London.

The restaurant, which specialises in the noodle ramen dish, has taken a 1,400 sq ft space at 102 Old Street spread over a ground floor and a basement following a successful run at various pop-up venues around the capital.

Thought up by restaurateur Ian Wheatley, who began studying how to make authentic ramen in 2013 after living and working in Japan in the 1990s, the 30-cover restaurant’s menu will include a range of ramen meals, including Ian’s Aruba Soba dish which has proved wildly popular during its pop-up appearances in the last year.

Commenting on his first permanent site, Ian explained that the concentration of offices and businesses in the Old Street area, along with the rising popularity of nearby Clerkenwell, meant the restaurant would not be short of diners.

He said: “There is a strong lunch and dinner crowd in the area that we look forward to engaging with.

“Old Street has changed so much in the last 20 years but still has a good energy and I think the Clerkenwell side of the roundabout is about to develop rapidly and match the Shoreditch side. It is very exciting to be a part of that.”

Leisure property group Shelley Sandzer acted on behalf of the site’s current occupants, Asian restaurant Sedap, and Tony Levine at the firm described Monohon as the ‘ideal occupants’ for the property.

He added: “We identified Monohon as an ideal operator for this location, adjacent to the popular and vibrant Whitecross Street, where there is very high footfall during the day due to the many surrounding offices.

“Ian has tremendous passion for ramen and we are sure they will be extremely successful here.”

Monohon is due to open at 102 Old Street in Q4 of this year.