Beautiful ramen, excellent drinks and service that makes the whole evening feel special. I went for a tasting at the FYN Group’s new Japanese eatery and left with plenty of reasons to return.
Some meals satisfy a craving. Others make you start plotting your next visit before you have even left the table. My tasting at Ramenhead Izakaya landed firmly in the second category. The food, the drinks, the exceptional service. Everything came together for an experience that felt five-star, with the quality to back it up. The ramen was beautiful, but what made the visit so memorable was how much care carried through the entire experience.
Now open at 75 Kloof Street, the FYN Group’s Japanese eatery has grown beyond the ramen shop that first opened on Parliament Street in 2022. There are wood-fired plates, pressed sushi, a four-stop omakase and a courtyard sake bar. Come hungry. You will want room to explore.
The Ramen Deserves Your Full Attention
Ramen remains the heart of the restaurant, and the work behind each bowl explains why. The team uses a Yamato machine to make noodles with precise dough hydrations and cuts, matching each style to its broth. They are then portioned by hand and matured for at least 48 hours, with some aged for up to a week.
The tonkotsu broth alone simmers for 18 hours to develop its creamy texture and deep umami flavour. This is serious commitment to something you could happily demolish in minutes. The menu opens with four bowls: tonkotsu with Hakata noodles and pork belly chashu, tori paitan with Tokyo-style noodles and chicken wonton, vegetable Sapporo with sesame miso and smoked shiitake, and a cold hiyashi chuka.
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At my tasting, the ramen was a highlight before I had even picked up my chopsticks. The creamy-looking broth was dotted with golden droplets of oil, with delicate slices of meat, finely sliced spring onion and dark ribbons of mushroom adding colour and texture. A soft-centred egg, its yolk a glorious golden orange, practically demanded its own close-up. Against the dark bowl, every detail stood out. It was beautiful to look at and a pleasure to eat, the kind of dish you want to linger over, even when the temptation is to dive straight in.
Bring Someone Who Likes To Share
A bowl of ramen might get you through the door. The expanded menu gives you a reason to stay. Every table starts with otoshi, a small snack from the kitchen. From there, you can build a spread around yellowtail tataki with apple and daikon salsa, karaage with yuzu and dill ranch, or whole prawn tempura.
The wood fire adds another temptation: Duroc pork belly with a red miso glaze and whole chokka in white miso butter. These plates can serve as starters before your ramen, a shared feast or a meal in their own right. It makes Ramenhead an appealing option for a date night or a catch-up with friends where ordering becomes part of the fun. “Ramen is still the starting point for us, and it always will be,” says chef and co-owner Peter Tempelhoff. “What Kloof Street gives us is the space to do more with the rest of the menu, and introduce a new offering alongside it.”
There Is Sushi Worth Making Space For
For the first time, sushi joins the Ramenhead menu, with chef Ryan Reyes leading the counter. The focus is oshizushi, Osaka’s pressed sushi, made by layering fish and rice in a box before cutting it into portions. The kitchen uses Koshihikari rice from Ishikawa Prefecture, grown by fourth-generation farmers and cooked in Cape mountain spring water. Fish is sustainably sourced from the Western Cape’s small-scale fishers.
For anyone who struggles to choose, the four-stop omakase offers a route through the menu: chilled fish and sushi, tempura and karaage, a small bowl of ramen, then dessert. That final stop might include a strawberry-and-cream konbini sando, inspired by Japanese convenience-store fruit sandwiches, or a Don Pedro with Suntory whisky.
Make Time for the Drinks
The drinks were another standout at my tasting, deserving just as much attention as the food. Service and beverage director Jennifer Hugé has curated premium sakes, all available by the bottle, with a selection offered by the glass and in tasting flights of three or six.
The courtyard bar also serves Japanese-inspired cocktails, including highballs and sours, alongside non-alcoholic options, Japanese and local beer on tap, and a short list of local boutique wines. A sake flight gives curious drinkers a way to explore the range. A cocktail and a few shared plates could just as easily become the evening’s main event.
The Service Makes It Feel Special
Excellent food gets people talking. Exceptional service makes them want to come back. That was a big part of my experience. Ramenhead may be described as casual, but the quality and care I experienced felt five-star. It is somewhere you can settle in and enjoy the occasion.
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The setting adds to that feeling. A Japanese lantern hangs above the entrance, dark timber leads into the restaurant and the courtyard brings together the bar, wood-burning oven and covered seating. The noodle machine sits in full view of the dining room, giving guests a glimpse of the craft behind their bowls.
I left feeling that the tasting had been out of this world. If your next Cape Town outing calls for beautiful food, excellent drinks and service that lives up to both, put Ramenhead Izakaya on your list.
Find it: 75 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town
Lunch: Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–14:30; Sunday, 12:00–15:30
Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday, 18:00–22:00
Bar: Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–midnight; Sunday, 12:00–17:00
