Ipswich restaurant Takayama moves into former La Cueva unit in St Nicholas Street

An Ipswich restaurant specialising in Japanese and Korean cuisine has moved into a new premises – and it has some new faces on board, including a robot waiter.

Takayama, previously located in Fore Street, moved to St Nicholas Street on April 12, in the unit that once housed La Cueva.

The husband and wife team at the helm revealed the former premises was too small for their plans, and announced their expansion last month.

Irene Monroy, one of the co-owners, said: “We love our new restaurant. The amount of people we can cater for has nearly doubled, which has provided some early challenges, but these issues did not hold us back for long.

“The increased size means we’ve had to take on more staff, and will continue hiring more, as well as a new chef. We’re also going to be opening a bubble tea bar next month.

“One issue with our eatery in Fore Street was a lack of space. We hated turning people away, and now we have enough seats to accommodate for up to 80 people. Although having a second floor also took some getting used to.

“In addition, we make sure we do not fully book so we always have a few tables for our regulars, who have been very supportive – it’s our way of giving back to them.”

It took about six weeks to convert La Cueva into the new Takayama, Irene revealed. This included reducing the size of the kitchen to allow for storage, adding new decorations and reducing the number of tables.

The increased space also allowed for the restaurant’s newest addition – a serving robot named Bella – to travel freely.

Bella was brought in to help alleviate the stress of increased capacity, as it can bring cutlery and drinks directly to customers tables.

It can even sing happy birthday.

Takayama first opened in Fore Street in 2017.

De Xing Chen, the co-owner, said opening the new premises was exciting.

He said: “We’re still learning new lessons. As the chef, I was particularly eager to get going in the new kitchen.

“We also have a far larger bar, and are in the process of setting up a new one upstairs, which could allow us to get more creative with drinks, including new cocktails. Bubble tea is also very popular right now, so we think it could be a smash hit come summer.

“Our first week was chaotic, including issues with the till, but the community has been very supportive.

“We hope the new site allows us to fuel our ambitions with the business for the future.”