‣  our beginnings

the restaurant — information

slurping bowl

our story began in the nakamura household in kyoto, japan, 1972.  nakamura haruto was twenty-one at the time and had dreams of opening his own restaurant, but had no money to pursue it.  while he had support from his family, he grew up poor, and thus had to work odd jobs in order to scrap together enough money to purchase and order a stand with which he sold fresh, homemade tonkotsu ramen in the streets of kyoto. 

in 1981 he married his wife, yousuke, and through her and her family's unconditional support he was finally able to realize his dreams.  

slurping bowl officially opened its doors to the world in january 1983 as a family-owned ramen restaurant located in the heart of kyoto.  those who have visited haruto's food stand before were his first customers, and through word of mouth, new faces started trickling in. 

its name honors the japanese custom, which considers slurping food, especially soup, as a compliment to the chef.  nakamura haruto also sees it as a sign of comfort, which haruto always valued seeing among his customers.