Bia Rebel Ramen
Bia Rebel Ramen is a small casual restaurant and take-away in Belfast which fuses the best Irish produce with Japanese cuisine to create addictive bowls of “authentic Irish ramen”. With plans to open a second site in the city in 2020, founders Brian Donnelly and Jenny Holland have brought us in to help raise their profile in the UK media, to grow the Bia Rebel brand and tell Brian’s inspiring story.
‘Bia’ means food in Irish and founders chef Brian Donnelly and his partner Jenny Holland are true their name rebelling against formal fine dining and cheap fast food. They aim to create “food that touches your soul” at affordable prices in an informal setting. It’s their passion for delivery and ability to execute it that sets Bia Rebel apart. “We want to create an eating experience that is comforting, nourishing and at the same time exciting and totally unique.”
Winners of the Observer Food Monthly Cheap Eats Award in 2018, Bia Rebel opened only a few months earlier in March 2018. With just 12 seats and take-away, Bia Rebel locals, students and even Japanese families come in for fast nourishing bowl of ramen.
Brian started working in kitchens aged just 13 spending most of his career in Michelin-star restaurants led by the likes of Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsey and Kevin Thornton and the creator of Irish cuisine Myrtle Allen at Ballymaloe. By 2017 he needed to step away from the stress of working in fine dining restaurants and Jenny convinced him that the time was right to open their own place. After a year of trialling concepts at Belfast’s St George’s Market, they hit on ramen.
Brian says: “We decided to focus on just one product and hit upon the iconic Japanese noodle which is loved across the world. We’re not trying to be Japanese. We’re an Irish restaurant. It just so happens this wonderful, perfect dish we’re making is considered Japanese. Provided you adhere to basic building blocks you can make it what you want.”
Brian quickly found out that it was impossible to source fresh noodles here so set his mind to perfecting his own recipe. He says “Our noodles are made by hand from just a few ingredients - it’s a pure process that takes huge commitment and dedication.”
Jenny says: “We see Ireland and Japan as two island nations with so much wonderful produce to choose from. We chose our suppliers carefully, and use small farmers and independent producers as much as possible. You won’t find produce of this quality and this price anywhere else.”
