Ichiran is one of the more popular ramen chains and you may have seen/heard about it already. We went to the Dotonbori branch which is open 24 hours. When you enter, they will ask you if you want a single booth or a table since they’re on different floors. The single booths are meant for those eating alone who want little to no interaction, which is nice if you just want to focus on eating and slurping the yummy ramen.
It would’ve been interesting to experience the whole “eating without talking” thing but since there were 4 of us, we asked for a table and they directed us to the vending machine which is where you order the food. It was a bit confusing for first-timers like us, but we managed to figure it out. Apparently, there’s only one type of ramen here which is the Classic Tonkotsu Ramen (¥790) and you just need to decide whether you want to add on anything else like kaedama (extra noodles), egg, and other sides or dessert. After you pay for your order, don’t forget to grab your ticket from the vending machine! They then showed us to the 4th floor, where we were seated at a table and they collected our tickets.
Ramen Preference
You’re given a sheet with preferences for your ramen in terms of: Flavour, Richness (Oil), Garlic, Spiciness Level, Noodle Firmness, etc. We each ordered slightly differently and I must say, even though we all had the same soup broth, the flavours actually became different depending on what we circled.
Doesn’t that ramen look amazing?! 😀 The soup was very rich and flavourful and the noodles were great. The chashu (sliced pork) was just okay for me but still good compared to other ramen shops I’ve been to. I actually got the combo so it came with an egg and a dessert. The egg was presented with the shell still on so you have to peel it yourself but when I cut it in half to see the inside, it was glorious. Perfect golden-orange colour and cook. Yummy!!! Just thinking and writing about this ramen makes me want to go back already…
So my dessert was the Matcha Annin Tofu. We saw it on a poster on the wall and to be honest, it didn’t look very appetizing. But we were totally wrong. 😛 It was so smooth and creamy and the matcha complemented the almond flavour nicely. I’d eat this dessert every day!
Our tummies were definitely satisfied by the end of the meal and it was an incredible tasting experience. I highly recommend eating here if you’re planning on going to Japan — they have multiple locations! It’s still too early for me to say whether this is the “best ramen in the world” (as they claim), but it’s definitely in my top 3! 🙂
Hungry Coco Vancouver Food Blog 