Recorded only months after Kanada-Ya opened its first London restaurant, this 2015 Roberts London film captures the compact St Giles ramen bar, its open kitchen and a bowl of tonkotsu ramen on a cold February evening.
London’s restaurant landscape changes quickly, but some openings mark the beginning of something more durable. When Roberts London visited Kanada-Ya on 12 February 2015, the Japanese ramen specialist had been serving customers in St Giles for only a few months.
The film records an early moment in the restaurant’s London story: a winter walk through the West End, a small dining room busy with customers, chefs working behind the counter and a bowl of tonkotsu ramen arriving at the table.
A winter walk to St Giles
The visit begins after dark on the streets between Covent Garden and St Giles. Barry walks through a quieter part of central London, wrapped against the February cold, towards 64 St Giles High Street.
Kanada-Ya had opened this first London branch in September 2014. The location was sometimes described through the more familiar name of Covent Garden, although the restaurant itself stood on St Giles High Street, close to Tottenham Court Road and the eastern edge of Soho.
At the time, the London operation was still new. Kanada-Ya had begun in Yukuhashi, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, in 2009. Its speciality was tonkotsu ramen: noodles served in a rich broth made from pork bones.
The St Giles restaurant brought that focused proposition into a compact central London space.
Inside the original London restaurant
There is nothing sprawling about the room shown in the film. Customers sit closely together, while the kitchen remains visible behind the counter. Hanging globe lights soften the otherwise simple interior.
That compactness is part of the atmosphere. The meal is not presented as a long formal occasion. Diners arrive, take their places and watch bowls being assembled only a short distance away.
The film briefly catches the kitchen in motion before turning towards the table. It preserves the feel of a young restaurant working at close quarters, with little separation between preparation, service and dining.
The bowl of tonkotsu ramen
The main event is the ramen itself.
The pale, opaque broth arrives with thin noodles and carefully arranged toppings. Slices of pork spread around the bowl, with a seasoned egg, spring onion, seaweed and other garnishes adding colour and texture.
The visual appeal comes from the contrast between the restrained bowl and the richness of its contents. The broth coats the noodles as they are lifted with chopsticks, while the toppings gradually become part of the meal rather than remaining a composed surface.
Tonkotsu is defined by the work behind the broth. Pork bones are cooked for an extended period to extract body, flavour and the characteristic cloudy appearance. The result is substantial without requiring an elaborate presentation.
This is also why the February setting matters. A hot bowl of ramen feels especially well matched to a cold evening walk through London.
A focused kind of restaurant
The visit demonstrates the confidence of a restaurant built around one central speciality. Rather than trying to represent the whole range of Japanese cooking, Kanada-Ya concentrated on ramen and the decisions contained within it: broth, noodles, toppings and balance.
That focus suited the small St Giles room. The open kitchen allowed customers to see the preparation, while the quick rhythm of service kept the restaurant moving.
By the end of the meal, people are waiting outside beneath the illuminated Kanada-Ya sign. The queue is a more telling conclusion than any formal verdict. Only months after opening, the restaurant had already found an audience willing to wait on a winter evening.
Looking back from the present
The 2015 film now has value beyond its original restaurant review. It documents Kanada-Ya near the beginning of its London development, before the name expanded to further locations around the capital.
The St Giles restaurant remains associated with the brand’s arrival in London. The wider business has changed and grown since the film was made, so present-day menus, prices and opening arrangements should be checked directly before visiting.
What the recording preserves is the experience encountered in February 2015: a short walk through central London, a seat beside an open kitchen and a carefully assembled bowl of tonkotsu ramen in one of the city’s then-new Japanese restaurants.
Adapted from the Roberts London film “We Visit Kanada-Ya – The Best Japanese Ramen Bar in London?”, first published on 12 February 2015.
