Ivan Orkin, the founder of Ivan Ramen and a familiar face from Netflix’s Chef’s Table, has just opened his first UK restaurant. For fans of his Tokyo and New York shops, the Clerkenwell diner is long overdue. For everyone else, it heralds the arrival of a chef whose path into ramen was anything but typical.
Orkin grew up in Long Island, New York and fell for Japanese food as a teenager while working in kitchens. That early fascination eventually pulled him to Tokyo, where he learned the language, immersed himself in the city’s food culture, met his wife and took a short ramen-making course before teaching himself the rest. He opened the first Ivan Ramen in 2007 – a bold move for a foreigner. But his noodle soups quickly won over locals, critics and fellow chefs. “People call me a ramen master, but I don’t even know what that means,” he tells Broadsheet. “I want to be given an opportunity to serve what I serve. I really don’t think I’m an expert. I’m just a lifelong Japanophile.”
Opening a London restaurant had been on the cards for years, but was delayed by Covid. Instead, Orkin tested the city with sell-out pop-ups at Sessions in Islington in 2023 and a run at The Ned earlier this year. His permanent home is 26-seater, deliberately stripped-back and simple, with an open kitchen and bar seating that’s designed to echo the casual ramen bars you might duck into on a side street in Tokyo.
“I don’t want going out to feel like a huge commitment,” Orkin says. “This is a place where you can drop in for a quick bowl or have a bun and a beer. You’re just here to get some tasty food.”
The menu pulls in favourites from his Tokyo and New York shops: the pork-based tonkotsu, creamy chicken paitan, spicy miso ramen and crispy karaage chicken. A London-exclusive salt beef bao is inspired by the classic salt beef beigel from Brick Lane and filled with salt beef, pickled cucumbers and punchy karashi mustard mayo. For those who know Orkin’s approach, the draw is the detail.
“Ramen has to have structure and a specific idea to have the outcome that everybody expects,” he says. “If a bowl doesn’t have harmony, if the fat and broth don’t stick to the noodles, if the noodles don’t have an interesting texture, and if the char siu is dry, then that’s a bad bowl of ramen.”
His noodles use high-gluten bread flour, lower protein cake flour and toasted rye flour for depth and aroma. “I got really dialled in to making noodles,” he says, laughing. “For me, noodles are the secret sauce. When I got a chance to make my own noodles, I got a chance to make my dream.”
Opening in London hasn’t been without challenges. “Our ramen isn’t the cheapest ramen out there, but you’re eating ingredients from Japan. I don’t want to compromise, and if you don’t want to pay more, then you can go to McDonald’s. Although that’s not cheap anymore either,” he jokes. Importing ingredients has been tricky. “You guys have crazy laws. The dashi is not good here. It’s not smoky enough, and that’s why we can’t have the chicken shio ramen yet. It’s a dish that’s very laid bare and all about the dashi.”
Nearly 20 years after opening his first Tokyo shop, Orkin is still chasing the same goal: a bowl that feels transportive and unforgettable. “If I can be the best for someone when they’re eating it, that’s enough for me,” he says.
Ivan Ramen
98 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3EA
Hours:
Mon midday to 10pm
Tue to Thu 5-10pm
Fri to Sat midday-11pm
