Ramenhead to move to Kloof Street, as Elgr moves on

In central Cape Town, far from the idyll that is Boschendal, home to Arum, the newest restaurant in the FYN Group, the group’s head honcho Peter Tempelhoff is moving his original Ramenhead to a much busier location.

Ramenhead, the collective’s authentic Japanese ramen bar, is currently situated in Parliament Street, at street level below the premises where FYN sits with its Table Mountain view.

But the foot traffic in Parliament Street is not what it could be. And the district could hardly be called urban-edgy. Which Ramenhead is. So…

When the owners of Elgr, in Kloof Street, decided to close (the venue is currently shuttered), Tempelhoff and his partners took the gap and committed to moving Ramenhead to the vacated premises.

Elgr, meanwhile, appears to have a pending new life of its own. The restaurant may be closed, but its website is still live, and it contains one post:

“While we’re wrapping up this part of our story, something new is already taking shape behind the scenes. Watch this space – you’ll be the first to know.

“Five years. Four consecutive Eat Out Star Awards. A new chapter.”

I like the fact that Tempelhoff is happy to own something at street level, so to speak, as well as his high-end eateries in town (FYN), Constantia (Beyond) and Stellenbosch (Arum).

And if you’re going to run a street-level ramen joint, better it’s in busy Kloof Street than in fuddy-duddy Parliament Street, where it sits on Speakers Corner. Not to mention the clear fact that the seemingly endless reconstruction work at Parliament itself nearby must have affected many businesses in the vicinity.

Ramenhead, of course, is a classy affair, as is everything Tempelhoff touches, and this urban stylishness will be brought to the former Elgr site.

You’re invited to indulge in a glass of sake while enjoying “silky freshly made noodles” and to “sip umami-rich broth which has been simmered and nurtured for days”. That’s what the website tells you.

Tempelhoff is in love with Tokyo and all of Japan, not least its culture and cuisine, and says he took his cue from the ramen houses there, “not only with the authenticity of our ingredients and the care lavished on the preparation, we are casual, we are edgy, and we have a vibe – day and night, right in the heart of the city”.

Well, that website claim was made of the original Speakers Corner site, but it will fit Kloof Street better.

My hunch is that in shifting to Kloof Street, Ramenhead will be poised to be the urban hub it was intended to be. It has ticked every box except location, arguably. That’s my argument anyway.

There’s a second iteration of Ramenhead at the TimeOut Market at the V&A Waterfront but, when asked if any other new restaurants were planned, it was a flat “no” from Tempelhoff. There’s enough going on as it is with the recent establishment of Arum and the pending shift of Ramenhead. DM