Ichiran Ikebukuro
Self-service water tap
Port fillet ramen, Yen750
The partition at the opposite row (You cannot see the face of opposite customer, and vice versa.)
Seating
in Ichiran is in the form of U-shaped, the above is the left side. The
time is very late at night, there are not many female customers.
Ichiran Ramen Restaurant
一蘭ラーメン
1-39-11 East Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan. (2 minutes walk from JR Ikebukuro Station – East Exit)
Tel: 03-3989-0871
東京都豊島區東池袋1-39-11 サニーサイドビル102
Opening Hours: 24 hours
Website: www.ichiran.co.jp
Style: Ramen (Japanese Chinese noodle)
Average spending: Yen 750 (~HK$55)
Date: September 2006
Remarks: Order sheets in English and Chinese are available.
A Japan Travel Magazine ranks 「Ichiran」 No. 1
in
the best 10 Ramen restaurants in 2006. If you travel to Tokyo, you need
to have a try. There is no excuse as it is a 24-hours restaurant.
Ichiran is not a big restaurant, it can serve about 20 customers at the
same time.
Normally
you have to buy ticket in advance in the ticket machine. But in
Ichiran, you only need to find your seat first. An electronic board near
the entrance will show you whether empty seats are available. The seats
are separated by partition and you even cannot see the face of
waitress. Waitress will give you an order sheet to tick the particulars
you prefer, in terms of flavor strength, fat content, garlic amount,
green onion amount, with or without pork fillet (Japanese cha siu),
secret sauce amount, and noodle hardness. You should also pour water
into your glass by yourself from the water tap at the front left. One
tap is for one customer only.
Before
long, a bowl of hot ramen is served. In fact, the most important
character in a bowl of ramen should be the soup. The soup
in
Ichiran is very good and delicious. It will not be too salty and is
quite concentrated. The green onion is also important to add flavor.
Since you select everything in the order sheet, you should be able to
find the taste you like most. However, the noodle portion is
unexpectedly small. This is the only complaint to Ichiran.
It
is a good experience to eat a bowl of ramen in Ichiran. Restaurant of
such layout should only be found in Japan. Overall speaking, the ramen
is good in taste. To me, it is not the best ramen in Tokyo, another
ramen restaurant called 「Mutekiya」
http://homepage3.nifty.com/mutekiya/map/ (also in Ikebukuro) is even better.
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Environment: 4/5
Variety: 3/5
Hygiene: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
/Deli Prince Club
