Wagamama, the London-based Japanese noodle restaurant chain, is to enter the enters the highly competitive US market today, launching its first restaurant in Boston. Financial Times

The company, which was bought by private equity group Lion Capital, in 2005 for £102.5m, has been working on its entry to the US for two years and has plans to roll out the chain across the US.

Its US debut will be in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall. The restaurant will cost £1m, which will be paid for out of cash flow. It will be followed by a second outlet this summer on the nearby Harvard Square.

The chain already has 27 restaurants overseas through franchised operations in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Dubai and is about to open the group’s 50th restaurant in the UK.