HAMA Leeds: Top-rated Korean restaurant Yokohama takes over former Chophaus in Oakwood

Korean and Japanese restaurant Yokohama closed its Roundhay Road site earlier this year, and will soon reopen as HAMA in Oakwood - taking over the site of the former steakhouse Chophaus.

Expected to open next week, the family-run restaurant will serve Korean cuisine alongside steaks, dropping the Japanese dishes from its menu. The first HAMA restaurant, a Korean barbeque buffet, opened in 2022.

Yokohama boasted a five-star rating on Tripadvisor reviews and was one of the best-rated restaurants in Leeds. The Korean dishes at HAMA, located on Princes Avenue on the edge of Roundhay Park, will be largely the same as on the Yokohama menu.

Owner Ahn Choi said: “We are a Korean family and we are very good at Korean food, so we have a plan to focus on that. Chophaus was mainly a steakhouse, and we’ll keep making the steak as well as a lot of people are expecting that

“A lot of people loved Yokohama Korean food and we are highly rated in Leeds. We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls and they are very upset we closed Yokohama, but I’m telling them we are opening the same restaurant in a better location. They’ll come again.”

Chophaus announced its closure earlier this year. It opened in 2019 in a former cafe premises and the Leeds United squad had eaten there.