The owner of a new Japanese bar and restaurant, which will open next month, has said he wants to bring food from around the world back to Norwich.

Derek Hardy, who already owns the Don Txoko Spanish restaurant, in St Benedicts Street, is aiming to open Fire Izakaya in White Horse Street at the former site of the White Horse Café.

Mr Hardy aims to make the new bar "reminiscent of Tokyo" with its name coming from the food it will serve which will mainly by cooked over coals and the Japanese izakaya, the country's equivalent of the British pub.

Izakayas serve food in the style of Spanish tapas with drinks such as the traditional sake.

Traditional menu items include Hiyayakko, a dish made with chilled tofu and toppings and Yakitori, a chicken skewer.

Fire Izakaya will aim to partner traditional dishes with some fusion dishes with western meals.

Mr Hardy said: "It's a bar come restaurant with lots of snacks and we've called it fire because the way most of our dishes will be cooked.

"I've been lucky enough to have travelled around the world and sampled good restaurants and street food and now we want to bring them back to Norwich much like we have with Don Txoko and Spanish food."

The restaurant will be hosting a number of events to celebrate its launch once it opens, however Mr Hardy is tight-lipped on what is in store.

He added: "I don't really want to give to much away, we want to keep the surprise and give people a reason to come in and visit us."

It comes after the restaurant lodged an alcohol licence application with Norwich City Council on May 9.

If approved, the restaurant plans to open from 12pm to 1am from Monday to Sunday and hopes to serve alcohol from 12pm to 12am.