Marugame Udon announces first restaurant outside London as part of major expansion

The casual Japanese noodle brand Marugame Udon has announced plans to open six new restaurants in the next six months, including its first outside London.

Reading will come as part of an enormous European expansion, with the new UK kitchens joined by 150 across the Continent.

Marugame Udon, which specialises in ‘unhurried broths’ and ‘fresh tempura’, only launched in the UK in 2021, but has already amassed something of a loyal following after opening six shops in central London.

The next site will be the brand’s first suburban foray with a restaurant in Bromley, before more launches in Waterloo, Kensington, Reading, The Strand, and Liverpool Street Station.

Marugame’s Europe CEO Keith Bird said the growth will bring 300 jobs by February 2023.

He said: ‘We have always set out to be a brand that is available to all in the UK and not solely focused on London, so it’s fantastic to see Marugame Udon grow across the country.

‘We also have bold ambitions to become a household name in Europe and while we may not be as well known here as we are in Japan just yet, the opening of six new kitchens including our first UK regional site in Reading means that we are well on our way to achieving our mission to introduce udon to all.’

There was a clear gap in the market for affordable and quick Japanese food in the UK and the queues to try bowls of katsu curry udon and tempura boiled eggs have continued.

The Guardian’s food critic Grace Dent was an early adopter, comparing the brand to Wagamama and Ikea, at least as far as its ‘canteen’ style dining goes.

Dent conceded that some might only consider the noodles as ‘fine’ – there are more distinguished places to eat Japanese food in the UK, certainly – but praised a ‘fun, low price’ place to dine and dubbed Marugame a ‘magical land where you can sprinkle spring onion, chilli and pickled ginger with jubilant abandon’.

It remains true that independent restaurants are the first port of call in the UK’s bubbling and embattled dining scene. It goes against the grain, perhaps, to celebrate a ‘chain’, but Marugame is clearly getting it right, and it probably won’t be long until there’s one on every high street.

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