Two popular Japanese cuisine businesses who previously operated as pop-ups and ghost kitchens have collaborated to open a brick and mortar restaurant in downtown Victoria.
Kizuna Ramen has made a name for themselves over the past three years for making some of the best ramen in the city.
Meanwhile, Good Filling Sankaku has been taking the Victoria market scene by storm, popping up at various farmers markets and events serving onigiri.
Both businesses had been doing all of their prep out of the Little Piggy commissary kitchen in Esquimalt while getting their start in Victoria, and had been looking separately for spaces to open a brick and mortar location.
Then, one day they decided to collaborate and share a space, as they both serve Japanese cuisine.
“I was always looking for a space for my regular customers, to open a regular dining space,” said Yoshimune Arima, owner and operator of Kizuna Ramen.
“It was very difficult to find in Esquimalt, I like that neighbourhood but it’s mostly just offices, retail or industrial space, which would mean getting an electrical permit and plumbing permit—it would have been too time consuming and expensive.”
Arima said he was downtown Victoria looking into a space that had not previously been a restaurant, so it had no plumbing or electrical setup that a kitchen would need.
After saying that the space wouldn’t be the right fit, he was taken to another vacant downtown space at 1314 Douglas Street.
The original building was constructed in the 1830s and is a heritage site, but the business who had previously been the tenant had already laid the foundations needed for a restaurant to open there easily.
Because Good Filling was seeking a space to open for business during the day to serve lunch and Kizuna was seeking a space for dinner service, the two were a natural fit to move in together, sharing the burden of downtown commercial rent prices and minor construction costs.
Now that the eatery is open, Good Filling opens the space up at 10 a.m. and operates until 3 p.m., or until sold out.
They serve six different flavours of onigiri daily, with two options of unique rice sandwiches as a slightly more filling option that you cannot find anywhere else in Victoria.
Then, Kizuna opens the space back up at 5:30 p.m. and serves five styles of ramen: a tonkotsu, a black garlic tonkotsu, a spicy tonkotsu, a shoyu and a vegan ramen.
Additionally, Kizuna serves veggie and meat gyoza, rice bowls and various other side dishes.
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Good Filling Sankaku is closed Sundays and Mondays, whereas Kizuna Ramen is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Both Arima and Hiro Takewake, co-owner of Good Filling Sankaku, say that this model of two businesses sharing a restaurant space makes it easier for the space to be open more throughout the day.
Additionally, it takes pressure off of their owners to staff an entire day when they know when they will be busy and they are the ones doing all the labour intensive prep.
Try Kizuna Ramen and Good Filling Sankaku next time you are downtown and looking for something unique and delicious to eat!
