Second site for Taiwanese takeaway brand comes as Chris Hsu and Noam Bar target hungry office workers with potent noodles in east London
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Chris Hsu, co-founder of Kung Fu Mama – has been on a lifelong mission to promote Taiwanese cuisine.
Having founded a sun-dried noodle business, Shuang Ren Hsu, in the country of his birth in 2009, he decided to explore opportunities for selling pre-packaged products into the European market.
“I also have two daughters and I wanted them to be educated in the UK – luckily I had a visa to come here and we arrived in 2019,” he said.
“We also looked at some business opportunities, travelling to Germany and France, but also around the UK.
“The British were the most open to new cuisines and different food cultures, so I thought this was the best opportunity to set up a business here.”
After Chris moved to London, it was actually through his daughters that he met his business partner, Noam Bar – co-founder of the Ottolenghi food empire.
a chance meeting…
Chris said: “Our kids are the same age and went to the same playgroup.
“Noam’s husband is also Taiwanese and we became close friends.
“About three years ago we started to think about bringing Taiwanese food to London.
“I’d been selling pre-packed noodles for the retail market to supermarkets.
“It was with Noam that I started to explore the restaurant opportunity in the UK.”
Having stepped away from Ottolenghi, Noam was looking for a fresh challenge.
“I’d co-founded that business with my former partner, Yotam Ottolenghi, in 2002, after we’d broken up,” said Noam.
“He came to me saying he wanted to start a food business and asked whether I would help him.
“All the people who worked with us were extremely talented and we were very lucky in where we were and when we were.
“Notting Hill was just on the rise in terms of gentrification – people really wanted a new kind of food.
“British cuisine was dead to them and there were few alternatives, so we benefited from that.
“It was right in terms of the zeitgeist and also correct in terms of what people wanted for their health.
“It was very successful – we were employing 450 people – but it also became very bureaucratic and I’ve always hated meetings, so we brought in a CEO four or five years ago and I stepped back and took some time off.
“Then I was ready for a new adventure.”
That journey began with the launch of Kung Fu Mama in Covent Garden and is now continuing with the recent opening of its second branch in Canary Wharf’s Jubilee Place.
Chris said: “Noodles are a very traditional food in Taiwan – most commonly in soups. At Kung Fu Mama we realised British people prefer dry noodles.
“In Taiwan if you order dry noodles, they come without sauce and all the toppings added separately.
“Here we’ve created dishes with a Taiwanese flavour but that has everything in one bowl. You have noodles, protein, vegetables and sauce, together making a wholesome meal.
“We try to bring this to the next level using recipes from my family and Noam’s expertise in the market to make the taste and presentation more attractive to the people here.
“We also take into account our customers’ desire to eat healthy food.
“You don’t see these things in Taiwanese or Chinese food.
“All our ingredients are natural and we use ovens to cook them rather than stir fry or deep frying dishes.
“The noodles we use are dried in the sun, which is a very traditional way of doing it in Taiwan because of the climate.
“These are imported and the texture is phenomenal. It’s nothing like noodles from anywhere else.
“We’re combining Taiwanese flavours with western cooking techniques on our menu.”
finding the market
Noam added: “I’m running the business operations side of things and Chris is dealing with the food. It’s been a great adventure so far.
“We opened our first restaurant in Covent Garden a year ago and we’ve had a great response from the word go.
“People love the food, the presentation and the fact they can get very flavoursome dishes very quickly.
“Essentially it’s very similar to night market food in Taiwan, which is very plentiful, delicious and relatively cheap.
“It’s quite rare to get grab-and-go food that tastes as good as this and is as fast.
“We opened in Covent Garden because we weren’t quite sure who our customers were going to be – would it be foodies, students or tourists?
“We thought it was an interesting area because it’s got a bit of everything.
“Now we know office workers are our best customers so we asked ourselves where those people are.
“It’s nicer than the City because here you also get people in the evenings and at weekends.
“We have high hopes that as we’re busy in Covent Garden without many office workers that here we’ll do even better.”
signature dishes
So what to order from Kung Fu Mama, now that the restaurant is up and running following its launch on March 20, 2026?
Chris said: We have two signature dishes. One is 12-hour Beef With Szechuan Pepper style – a little bit numbing, a little bit spicy.
“You’ll feel a kick, but it’s not too strong. The meat is very tender.
“Then we have our Ginger And Sesame Chicken, which is a transformation of a traditional Taiwanese dish.
“We do it with fresh ginger, sesame oil and crispy skin on the thighs.
“The meat is still juicy and I think it’s quite an unusual approach to this cuisine.
“My favourite is the beef, I could eat it every day.
“My grandparents were from mainland China and were migrants to Taiwan when the government moved there.
“Everyone at that time found themselves living alongside people from many different areas in China and it was normal to share recipes, ingredients and techniques between families.
“In Taiwan you can say we preserved a lot of authentic Chinese flavours and techniques meaning our cuisine has a really rich heritage, that has since developed further.
“We are proud of our food culture and its history.
“I’ve always tried to promote Taiwanese food and Kung Fu Mama feels like destiny calling.”
key details: Kung Fu Mama
Kung Fu Mama is located on the lower level of Jubilee Place next to Wharf Kitchen.
The restaurant and takeaway is open from 11am-9pm on weekdays and from noon-9pm on Saturdays and noon-7pm on Sundays.
Find out more about the new opening here
Read more: Check out Choir Boy’s joyful story at Stratford East
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