A recently-opened restaurant in Cardiff has been inundated with bookings after a glowing review from top food critic Jay Rayner. Matsudai Ramen in Grangetown has seen a surge in demand after the write-up called its food a 'revelation' and full of 'deep care and thoughtfulness.'
Owner James Chant started out serving his food at pop-ups across the capital and sold ramen kits online during lockdown before opening his first permanent restaurant on Clare Road in summer 2022. Since then, it's been a hit with customers and reviewers - you can read what we thought of it here.
When top food critic Jay Rayner popped in to sample the food for a review in the Observer, it was a nervous moment for the Matsudai team. Rayner's opinion has huge pedigree in the foodie world, and James said it was "terrifying" when he walked through the door.
READ MORE: Jay Rayner went to a newly-opened Welsh restaurant and his praise was absolutely glowing
"It’s kind of like the dream and the nightmare for all restaurant owners, as much as you’re prepared it’s a massive shock," he told WalesOnline. "He was lovely, he came and said hello, and afterwards did an impromptu interview with me."
James said the chat after the meal was a sign that the review could be a positive one: "He didn’t tell me what he was gonna say, but he told me that if it was a horror show he wasn’t going to write about it because he’s not there to sink independent businesses if they have an off night. But he didn’t say how good it would be, or give any indication beyond that."
After an "anxious" wait, the review was published on Sunday and it was almost entirely positive with even the odd criticism caveated as a "tiny thing." James said his phone started to blow up when it was published in the Observer and on the Guardian website over the weekend.
"To wake up on Sunday morning and see that was pretty shocking," he said. "It’s an insanely lovely review. It was doubly surprising because we’d been told by the people at the Guardian that it’d be published the following week, so we’d prepared with more staff and more meal kits for that week, but then it was a week early so it was panic stations in the best possible way."
Since then, James said things have been "absolutely bonkers." The review is actually the third time Rayner has mentioned Matsudai Ramen in his writing, but the first time it's had a whole article dedicated to it. Now James admitted it would "take people a little while to get a table for sure."
"We were busy anyway which is really lovely. We’ve probably had about 1,000 people book since Sunday. It’s a lot. We don’t really take many bookings on a Sunday and Monday anyway, we fill up through the week, whereas going into this week we’re already ram-packed - and next week, and the week after."
Bookings for this week are nearly impossible to come by with next week starting to look busy already. James says it was "lovely" even if a bit hectic. He added: "I am thrilled. I’m not from a cooking background, I’ve come to this quite late in my life and to have people respond in the way that they do… it’s quite an emotional response you get a lot of the time. It seems like a little more than just being a bowl of food. It’s taken on these other meanings and connotations and that’s really lovely."
While he relishes the demand, James said it was not about turning the restaurant into something exclusive or difficult to access. It's still a difficult time for restaurateurs, he explained, with the costs of goods and staffing - so "knowing that we’ve got a little buffer here where we’re gonna be busy obviously gives you some breathing space and removes some of the anxiety of owning a restaurant."
Posting a message of thanks on the Matsudai Ramen Facebook page, James said: "I won't be able to give the props deserved to every member of team Matsudai but sincerest thanks for you all to investing yourselves in it in and giving it the care it needs. it takes a village. Dan, Mawgaine, Adam, Jane, Matt, Kiana and everyone else - thank you so so much. What a mad, beautiful thing."
Commenters called the praised "entirely deserved" with one person saying: "We paid you a visit for my birthday and it was fantastic. Thank you and well done to all the team." Another added: "So well deserved guys. What a team. Thanks for putting Grangetown on the map!"
As for what's next for James and Matsudai Ramen? Thoughts of expanding to London are there, but they're on the horizon for now. "We do want to grow and expand," James said. "And a London restaurant would be the next thing that I would like to do. All of that said, it has to be done in the right way and we’d need to work with people to find resources to make that happen.
"We’ve only been open for six months still, we’re only finding our feet in many ways. The plan is to fine tune the restaurant to a point where it could be stable without us, then look at expanding in the right way if that’s what we want to do at that point.
"Our mission is to make ramen accessible across the UK, which is why we’ve still got the meal kits when many other people have shut that business down… get more ramen into towns where it’s never been because there’s such aa dearth of it in the UK."
Above all, though James said: "We’re just very very grateful that people are still coming and that the response is what it is… it doesn’t come from a business sensibility, it was never in my mind to start a ramen business and make money, it came purely out of needing to do something creative and being stifled in my own job. Thanks to everyone for getting on board."
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