A new upmarket Japanese restaurant has opened in the middle of Newcastle, following a £600,000 refurbishment. Butakun, which means ‘Master Pig’, is next door to the landmark Hotspur pub on Percy Street – and is Tyneside’s second Japanese opening in a matter of weeks following Miso in Ouseburn.

Robert Lao, Chin Teow and Charles Tang (left to right in photo), who are also behind the city’s Tsujiri dessert teahouse and Chilli Padi pan-Asian restaurant, believe they have identified a gap in the Newcastle market for high-quality Japanese cuisine and drinks, including sushi and ramen.

Charles said: “We are one of the first Japanese restaurants in the North East to serve premium Wagyu beef directly imported from Japan, which we serve cooked on lava stone. We are also vegetarian-friendly.

“Not only that, we serve a large variety of Japanese sakes ranging from still sakes, sparkling sakes and flavoured sakes, which are quite uncommon in the Newcastle bar scene. Most of these selections are not available anywhere else in the North East.“

Miso was opened last month in a former music studio by DJ Paul Stewart, who was inspired by Japan’s izakaya bars. He has trialled the operation as a pop-up in various locations over the last couple of years.