Ippudo Ramen was on our itinerary and one of our targets for food. DC was able to try it when she went to Tokyo several years ago so she highly recommended it and said that we definitely could not miss it on this trip! We went to the location near Shinsaibashi in the Namba district. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long since we arrived around 2pm but I imagine the line-ups can get quite long during peak hours.
Hakata Ippudo Namba Storefront
Ippudo only has 3 ramen flavours to choose from: Shiromaru Classic (白丸元味), Akamaru Modern (赤丸新味), and Ippudo Karaka (一風堂からか麺). The Shiromaru is the light coloured, original tonkotsu broth, the Akamaru is flavoured with spicy miso paste, and the Karaka is miso-flavoured with spicy minced meat, chili bean paste, and sweet soy bean paste. Everything looked so yummy!!! 😀
Shiromaru Classic (¥790), Akamaru Modern (¥850), Karaka (¥890)
Like other ramen places, you can order kae-dama (extra noodles) for an extra ¥130 and you can have as many kae-dama as you want (the man sitting beside us had 3! :O ). That’s how yummy it was!! (Or maybe he was just really hungry)
Akamaru Modern
I ordered the Akamaru Modern Combo so it came with aji-tama (egg) and gyoza. The ramen came out piping hot, as it should be. The broth was incredible and oh so satisfying. 🙂 It was rich, slightly creamy, and packed full of flavour without being too oily or making you feel sick after. It was very comforting and maybe the best ramen broth I’ve had. It had just the right amount of spiciness and the pork slices were actually tender!
Yaaaass egg
Oh man… The egg was amazing. Perfectly cooked with a runny center 😀 .
Gyoza
The Gyoza were delicious too. Crisp, hot, and not too oily.
Shiromaru Classic
DC got the Shiromaru Classic. It definitely looked more simple and toned-down compared to the Akamaru but it was also superb. This one had more of a creamy texture and taste. The noodles were cooked well and we loved their thin texture.
Garlic Presser!
If you want fresh garlic, just ask for it! They provide you with a bin filled with whole garlic as well as a garlic presser. Before you add the garlic, I suggest eating half of your ramen first so that you can experience slightly different tastes. They provide pitchers of cold tea too which was refreshing while eating the hot ramen.
Vanilla Ice Cream coated with Chocolate & Nuts
At the time, they were having a promo where you can order an ice cream bar for ¥100 so we got that too. We didn’t realize it until I finished the ice cream that it was actually like a lottery and you could win a free bowl of ramen or gyoza!
はずれ… Miss!
Unfortunately, it said hazure (はずれ), which translates into failure or miss. We didn’t win… Too bad! (But we were all stuffed anyways)
The service here was great! Our server was extremely friendly despite the limited English. I was able to communicate a bit with my broken Japanese so that was fun too. I must say, I prefer the human interaction here instead of purchasing from a vending machine. After our meal, we went out to take pictures and the server even went out to take a picture of all of us. So nice of him!
Next time I visit Japan, Ippudo will again be on my list and I’d love to try the Ippudo Karaka ramen when I go back!
Hungry Coco Vancouver Food Blog 