A popular Belfast eatery has opened a second restaurant in a shipping container.
Following the success of Jumon’s city centre premises on Fountain Street, the restaurant has brought its unique and vibrant flavours to east Belfast and opened up a new spot in the shipping container at CS Lewis Square.
The shipping container is owned by Eastside Partnership who have recently launched regeneration plans for the Newtownards Road.
Speaking to The Irish News, Niall Davis from Jumon said: “Expanding was always part of the plan, but we didn’t actually know if the first expansion was going to be in Northern Ireland.
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“But when the shipping container came up, we thought it was a really good fit because that area of east Belfast is really coming up in terms of the food scene and it’s just a great unit.
“The lads that were in before us proved that it could sustain a lively atmosphere which really suits our vibe.”
Although Niall admits that working across two sites does come with some “additional pressures” he says the response has made it “all worth it.”
“You start worrying about whether the restaurant and its concept will travel or if it will affect the other unit – it’s always a bit nerve-wracking to do anything new.
“But so far, thankfully, the response has been really good, everyone seems to be really happy we’re there and most importantly it just has really good feeling about it.
“The atmosphere’s good, the food’s good and the vibes are good so we couldn’t ask for much else.”
However, despite the new site, he assures that the restaurant will continue to serve up its classic Asian-inspired vegetarian and vegan dishes.
“That’s the beauty of Jumon we’ve hardly changed the menu in seven years,” he says.
“We’re going to offer a few different dishes just to mix it up a bit but we’re going to bring back a few OG’s as well but in general we just want to keep doing what we’re doing because it works.”
Looking ahead Niall says he and the team would love to expand Jumon outside of Northern Ireland.
“Definitely later down the line we’d love to take it to other cities like Galway, Cork or Dublin.
“But it’s really important for us to always maintain our standards and make sure nothing slips so it’ll be a slow and well thought out process.”
