Hajimaru Ramen Has Softly Opened in Fishtown
They're serving hakata style ramen, rice bowls, and Japanese bites on Girard Avenue.
Hajimaru’s signature ramen | Photo courtesy of Hajimaru
Philly’s ramen boomlet has spread to Fishtown. Hajimaru Ramen softly opened over the weekend at 200 East Girard Avenue, the space formerly occupied by Shoo Fry and, before that, East Girard Gastropub.
The concept is the first restaurant from partners Will Yiu, Johnny Lau, and head chef Tai Lau, cousins who grew up together in Cherry Hill. Yiu and Johnny were working in IT when they came up with the idea to open a restaurant together.
“We got sick of the corporate grind and decided we wanted to do something different,” Yiu said. Tai learned the ramen ropes at the erstwhile Rai Rai Ramen in Chinatown and helped to open other locations around the region while Yiu and Johnny saved up to start the business.
Hajimaru (which means “to start” in Japanese) serves hakata style ramen, which is made with a pork bone broth that’s slow-simmered for 24 hours. The menu also includes rice bowls, Japanese bites like gyoza and takoyaki, and Japanese soft drinks.
Hajimaru Ramen’s soft opening hours are currently 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. and 4 p.m until 9 p.m. every day; soon, they’ll firm up the hours and choose a regular day to close.
While the menu isn’t quite finalized yet — a section of skewers has already been nixed for logistical reasons — Yiu shared the soft opening menu with us. Check it out below (click to embiggen).
