Durham Fat Buddha to open

Utopian Leisure, the bar, nightclub and restaurant company founded by former Ultimate Leisure chief executive Bob Senior, is planning to open a 8,500 sq ft Japanese barbecue restaurant in Durham.

The restaurant is based around the Japanese Robata grill, which is an age-old method of cooking.​ Eddie Fung, who owns the Zen restaurant in Belfast.

The restaurant, called Fat Buddha, is being planned in the wake of the successful opening of the company's first Fat Buddha last month, at the site of the former Café Milano in Belfast.

Utopian is working in partnership with Belfast restaurateur Eddie Fung, who owns the Zen restaurant in Belfast's Adelaide Street.

Fat Buddha features a massive indoor barbecue as its centrepiece.

Fung said: "The restaurant is based around the Japanese Robata grill, which is an ​

age-old method of cooking. The chefs cook on the barbecue in front of people."

The Durham Fat Buddha will be sited above Utopian's existing Loveshack nightclub, based in the city's Walkergate development.

"The site is fantastic - it overlooks the river,"​ said Senior.