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David Tuan Bui

Peterborough’s latest restaurant Naka Japanese Food & Drink had a private soft opening, unveiling its menu and serving a select group of customers on an invite-only basis on Thursday night.

Naka’s menu features ramen, yakitori, sandwiches, an oyster bar, cocktails and draft beer. The restaurant officially soft launches to the public on Thursday.

It is located at 213 Hunter St. W. at the former location of the Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi House. The latter had two locations but the Hunter Street location closed down to consolidate the restaurant’s resources to its 1040 Lansdowne St. W. address.

Both restaurants are owned by Susan Tung who opted to open a Japanese restaurant to diversify Peterborough’s selection of available cuisine.

“I decided to go with this concept because I wanted to continue to promote Asian cuisine in the city,” she said in a prior interview. “There were times I wanted to do something more mainstream for Peterborough but that’s not me and I know if I’m not fully passionate about it, it won’t do well.”

Tung announced the opening of Naka in an Instagram post back on Jan. 25. Coincidentally, Tung opened Hanoi House almost exactly three years before Naka’s soft launch.

The restaurant is open at the following times:

  • Thursday: 4:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.

  • Friday and Saturday: 4:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.

  • Sunday: 4 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

“I’m excited to take on this new challenge with my team and come back to Hunter Street full force,” said Tung.