Rising costs and reduced footfall force Liverpool restaurant Lu Ban to close
The restaurant, which was led by chef Dave Critchley and specialised in Tianjin cuisine, confirmed the news on social media last week.
A statement read: “We regret to inform our customers that, after careful consideration, we have made the decision to permanently close Lu Ban restaurant.
“The closure was not a decision we have taken lightly, but was necessary due to a combination of factors.
“The ongoing cost of living crisis has reduced footfall to what was always a niche concept.
“This coupled with increasing financial pressures of running and utility costs has rendered the business unsustainable.”
Lu Ban was one of just a handful of UK restaurants to serve dishes from Tianjin, a large port city close to Beijing in North Eastern China.
The restaurant opened in 2019 within Liverpool’s Brewery Village and featured a menu that included ‘ancient recipe pork’ with pineapple, sweet peppers, tomato and rice vinegar; Hotel Geneva tofu, a dish of aromatic tofu with sesame paste, chilli oil, toasted black bean, black sesame, peanut brittle and frothed soy milk; and Tianjin-style chicken noodle soup with vegetables and a quail egg.
More and more restaurant businesses across the country are being forced to scale back operations and, in many instances, close sites permanently amid spiralling inflation and the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Last month, popular street food restaurant MAMS in London’s Knightsbridge closed with high running costs cited as the reason.
In September, meanwhile, Hot Stone Group closed its modern Nepalese restaurant The Gurkhas on London’s Great Portland Street after less than six months of trading and relaunched it as Japanese concept WagyuNSushi.
While no official reason was given for the change, a statement released at the time made a blanket reference to the myriad of challenges currently facing the industry.
