Yatai Ramen

What Yatai Ramen does

Yatai Ramen is a privately-held Paris-based restaurant group operating five ramen restaurants across the 2e, 8e, 9e, 11e, and 14e arrondissements, founded in 2021 by siblings James and Vanessa. The company serves Paris residents and visitors with handmade Franco-Japanese fusion ramen, charging €15-€38 per bowl and offering a menu that includes traditional Tonkotsu ramen, a premium signature ramen featuring wagyu, foie gras, and truffle, vegetarian and matcha varieties, plus gyozas, donburi rice bowls, tapas, and desserts such as black sesame cheesecake.

The underlying culinary platform rests on a daily fresh-noodle production process using organic flour sourced exclusively from the Moulin Matignon mill in Île-de-France, paired with 24-hour simmered Tonkotsu and Tori Paitan broths and daily-marinated nitamago eggs. The food program is led by chef and co-founder James, who trained at Institut Paul Bocuse and Ramen School Rajuku in Japan, and combines traditional Japanese technique with French culinary sensibilities. Distribution reaches customers through dine-in service (with reservations on TheFork), delivery and takeaway through Deliveroo and Uber Eats, and a direct-to-consumer ramen kit sold via the byclickeat.fr e-commerce platform that enables nationwide home preparation in 15 minutes.

The business is entirely founder-owned and bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional capital, no parent company, and no subsidiary structure. The company has 17 employees, all five locations are wheelchair accessible, and it maintains strong review metrics — 9.0-9.2/10 across all sites on TheFork and 4.5/5 with 1,700+ Google reviews at the Châteaudun site — suggesting operational consistency and a loyal repeat-customer base in a single metropolitan market.

Name

Yatai Ramen

Legal name

Yatai Ramen

Website

https://yatairamen.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yatai Ramen is a privately-held Paris-based restaurant group founded in 2021 operating five Franco-Japanese ramen restaurants across central Paris, serving diners with handmade noodles, 24-hour simmered broths, and a DTC ramen kit for nationwide home preparation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ramen Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Salad & Bowl Concepts (Grain/Protein/Healthy Bowls) (THAFABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Direct-to-Consumer Meal Kit Subscriptions (CRAHAJAA)

Keywords

• Artisan ramen restaurants
• Franco-Japanese fusion cuisine
• Homemade ramen kits
• Japanese noodle preparation
• Casual dining Paris

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Five restaurant locations in Paris generate revenue through dine-in service. Customers order from the menu featuring ramens (16-38€), tapas, donburis, desserts, alcoholic beverages, and set menus. The flagship signature ramen with wagyu, foie gras, and truffle is priced at 38€ and available only evenings and weekends.
2. Delivery and Takeaway: Orders placed through Deliveroo and Uber Eats platforms for delivery, plus direct takeaway from restaurants. Available at all five locations.
3. Ramen Kit Direct Sales: DIY ramen kit sold directly to consumers via byclickeat.fr e-commerce platform. Kit includes pre-prepared broth, fresh noodles, and toppings. Delivered to homes within 2 days. Can be stored 7 days refrigerated. Prepared in 15 minutes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Yatai Ramen operates five handmade ramen restaurants in Paris offering Franco-Japanese fusion cuisine, with daily fresh organic noodles, 24-hour simmered broths, and signature dishes such as wagyu and foie gras ramen. The business also sells a DIY ramen kit directly to consumers via its e-commerce platform for at-home preparation. Revenue is generated through dine-in service, takeaway, delivery via Deliveroo and Uber Eats, and direct ramen kit sales.

Product overview

Yatai Ramen is a group of five handmade ramen restaurants in Paris, offering Franco-Japanese fusion cuisine. The core offering consists of ramen dishes served in restaurants across five Paris locations (Montparnasse, Bastille, Châteaudun, Pyramides, and Saint-Honoré), featuring fresh organic noodles made with flour from Moulin Matignon, and broths simmered for 24 hours. The product portfolio includes main ramen varieties (Traditional, Signature with wagyu and truffle, Vegetarian, Matcha, and seasonal Ramen du moment), alongside gyoza dumplings, donburi rice bowls, tapas, and desserts such as the Kurogoma black sesame cheesecake. Additionally, the Ramen Kit enables customers to prepare restaurant-quality ramen at home in 15 minutes. The company also offers catering options, delivery through Deliveroo and Uber Eats, and take-away services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• James Shi: Brand name used on Deliveroo for delivery service.

Products and services

• Yatai Ramen Restaurant Dining A group of five dine-in ramen restaurants in Paris offering handmade ramen, gyoza, donburi, tapas, and desserts with daily fresh organic noodles and 24-hour simmered broths. Targeted at Paris residents and visitors seeking authentic Franco-Japanese ramen experiences.
• Ramen Kit (DIY) An at-home ramen cooking kit delivered to customers that allows them to prepare restaurant-quality ramen in 15 minutes using a saucepan. Includes pre-prepared broth, fresh noodles, and toppings; keeps 7 days refrigerated. Sold directly to consumers via byclickeat.fr.
• Rāmen Traditionnel Classic ramen with Tonkotsu pork broth, shoyu tare, pork chashu slice, bamboo menma, black garlic oil, nitamago egg, and 4 nori sheets; priced at €16 base at Saint-Honoré.
• Rāmen Signature Premium signature ramen featuring wagyu slice, homemade foie gras, enoki mushrooms, nitamago egg, and fresh truffle with choice of pork Tonkotsu or moment broth; priced at €38 and available evenings and weekends, dine-in only.
• Rāmen Végétarien Vegetarian ramen with 100% vegetable broth, miso tare, seasonal vegetables, nitamago egg, nori leaves, and fresh organic noodles; priced at €15 base at Saint-Honoré.
• Rāmen Matcha Ramen featuring chicken and duck chashu, confit leek, matcha tori paitan broth with shio tare and sesame.
• Rāmen du Moment Seasonal ramen whose recipe changes approximately every 3 months based on the chef's inspiration and seasonal products; priced at €16–€20.50.
• Gyoza Maison Homemade grilled gyoza dumplings stuffed with pork or vegetables, served with crispy corn tile and yuzu ponzu sauce.
• Kurogoma Cheesecake Black sesame (kurogoma) cheesecake made with cream cheese mousse and black sesame praline on a layer of homemade almond crumble; priced at €7.5–€8.
• Donburi Dishes Rice bowl dishes including Donburi magret canard (duck breast with teriyaki sauce), Gyudon bœuf, Kare Raisu (Japanese curry), and Poulet Teriyaki Don.
• Tapas Appetizer items including Karaage (fried chicken), Tonkatsu, Gyoza salad, Magret Slices, and Concombre goma.

Quantifiable outcome

• Rated 9.0-9.2/10 on TheFork across all five locations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Moulin Matignon (Gilles Matignon)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExclusive partnership with Gilles Matignon's organic mill in Île-de-France. Daily fresh deliveries of organic flour made from locally-grown wheat. The mill represents family heritage and commitment to organic farming and sustainable methods. This partnership ensures the quality and freshness of Yatai Ramen's handmade noodles.
• DeliveroocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary food delivery partner enabling home delivery of ramen across Paris from all five restaurant locations. Orders placed through Deliveroo platform.
• Uber EatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSecondary delivery platform partner for takeaway and delivery orders across Paris locations.
• TheForkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurant reservation platform used for dine-in bookings at all five Yatai Ramen locations in Paris. Also provides rating/review platform.
• Ramen School RajukucoreOthersJapanese ramen culinary school where founder James received specialized training in traditional ramen preparation techniques, complementing his Institut Paul Bocuse education.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Big Mamma Group: Large French restaurant group with multiple Paris locations across different cuisines. Useful multi-unit Paris operator benchmark for unit economics, expansion playbook, and Paris F&B real estate dynamics.
• Côté Sushi: French chain of Asian-inspired restaurants with multiple Paris locations. Competes for the broader Japanese/Asian dining occasion in Paris but centers on sushi rather than ramen; useful for cross-format Asian cuisine benchmarking.

Broad incumbents

• Ichiran: Japanese ramen chain with Paris locations. Directly competes in the tonkotsu ramen category but with a global standardized counter-service model rather than Yatai's full-service Franco-Japanese fusion.
• Ippudo: Global Japanese ramen chain with a Paris presence. Same product category (tonkotsu and shoyu ramen) but operates as a large multi-national brand with broader menu and standardized operations rather than artisan founder-driven concept.

Direct peers

• Kodawari Ramen: Paris-based ramen restaurants explicitly named by Yatai customers as a comparable ('best ramen in Paris, even in front of Kodawari ramen'). Operates multiple Paris locations with a similar craft-ramen positioning and premium ingredients.
• Tori Ramen Paris: Paris restaurant specializing in chicken-based (tori paitan) ramen, paralleling Yatai's signature broth approach. Same fast-casual-to-mid-scale positioning and customer overlap in Paris's ramen-loving demographic.
• Hakata Choten: Paris-based ramen restaurant focused on Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen. Comparable craft positioning and target customer (Paris diners seeking authentic Japanese ramen), competes in the same neighborhood catchment.
• Sapporo Ramen (Paris): Independent Paris ramen restaurants serving Japanese-style ramen. Smaller scale than Yatai but competes in the same local market for ramen-focused diners in Paris.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yatai-ramen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yatai Ramen