New Concept Urban Noodle Replacing Islington’s Long-Standing Favourite Prawn on the Lawn as it Exits London
July 27, 2026
Urban Noodle – a new noodle bar concept from the team behind Chinatown’s Mi Canteen – is to replace popular seafood restaurant Prawn on the Lawn at the Islington site it has operated for 13 years.
Prawn On The Lawn was founded in 2013 by husband-and-wife duo, Rick and Katie Toogood, who went on to open 3 sites in Padstow, Cornwall, trading as Prawn on the Lawn, Little Prawn and Barnaby’s at the Vineyard. Commenting on the closure of their sole London site, Rick and Katie said; ‘London was our very first opening and will always be a special place for us. This feels like a celebration and a marker of everything we’ve achieved during this chapter of our lives. We want to say a huge thank you to our guests and everyone we’ve worked with along the way — it’s been incredibly touching and emotional to reflect on it all’.
Davis Coffer Lyons acted on behalf of Prawn On The Lawn to assign the lease of their 1,445 sq ft site at 292-294 St Pauls Road for a positive premium to Urban Noodle, which has been created by another husband and wife team – Fengying Ran and Qinggguo Zheng, whose combined experience in the restaurant industry exceeds 50 years. Ms Ran was head chef at Chinatown’s Barshu Restaurant for 8 years prior to launching Mi Canteen –specialising in Chongging supreme flat noodles in spicy hotpot and home-made rice noodles – in 2020.
Louie Gazdar said: “We were pleased to secure a premium for the lease and wish Katie and Rick the best of luck in their current and future endeavours as the neighbourhood bids them a fond farewell. Demand is strong in Islington – an area in which we are highly active – as well as other sought-after “London villages” and neighbourhoods, with well-located fitted sites commanding suitable premiums.”
