Hakata Ikkousha Ramen

I had high expectations for this place after seeing the reviews and pics on Unilocal and decided to try it out since it’s close by and new. I ordered the mentaiko Tonkotsu ramen with some additional toppings which was not bad but not that good either. The soup was on the thick side. I also ordered a side of gyoza and split a large side of fried chicken with my friend. Some parts of it was on the rare side which is not good but happens when frying such a large piece. They should fry smaller pieces. My friend ordered the black tonkotsu ramen. He said that the ramen tasted so bad that he couldn’t even finish it and my friend usually finishes his ramen.
The reason I am giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 is because I thought my ramen was decent and gyoza was decent.
The bad is that there is a wait for subpar ramen and it is extremely exspensive in my opinion for ramen with some toppings and a side dish. I spent over $ 25 on my meal with tax and tip and I didn’t even order a drink.
There is a lot of ramen places in the area so I would go somewhere else. I would not repeat.

dropped in with some friends and this place lived up to the hype again — food was great and consistency is good =)
The Black Ramen is a Tonkatsu w/​Garlic that is outstanding.
The basic Tonkatsu is great too
the Chasshu is good just I am not a huge fan of slices that thin is my only complaint.
yum yum yum

First time here tonight and by far the best ramen place I’ve ever gone to! I usually go to shin-​sen-​gumi for my ramen fix but I’m definitely going to be coming here from now on :-)
One big reason because I really like the thickness of their soup base and noodles. The soup base was creamier than most ramen places and I think it tastes better and is more filling that way.
The biggest reason is because my boyfriend told them it was my birthday and asked if they could do something. Being a ramen place, it’s not really typical for them to do anything for birthdays. So they decided to shut off all the lights, have every worker go up to my table and have them all start singing happy birthday with a lighter as my candle. I thought it was the cutest thing ever to have done such a request!
All in all, my favorite new ramen spot.

Whoa this ramen kills. Kills meaning kills other ramen joints. They have a black garlic ramen, broth is black. Aisde from the color, it is actually very appetizing.
Come in, highlight what you want on the slip and hand it back to the waiter. Grind some sesame seeds if you’d like, drink some of the flavorful broth and slurp down some ramen. Watch the TV on the wall to get a full history lesson of how they make their ramen so great.
This place has locations all around the world, will have to come back drink some more broth. Service is great and food is great. Awesome combination my friends.

Hmm Southbay is home to the best Ramen restaurants and I personally feel that this place does not have the best ramen but the atmosphere is very modern and a fun place to got and eat with friends if you don’t really care about food. Though if i wanted to have good ramen i would not recommend this place. Customer service was very simple: takes your order form, deliver food, and give bill. that’s it.

Standard Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen rocks!
I am usually not a fan of Hakata style ramen, mostly due to its noodle (its thin, straight noodle while I prefer thicker, curly noodle like Tokyo style). However, the broth as of now, is one of most tasty tonkotsu (pork broth) in town. The noodle is very customize-​able too. You can adjust the noodle firmness, as the type of ingredients that you like to be in and don’t forget to add the half broiled egg. Its soo good!
Their fried rice is very good too. Full of flavors. I am not really a fan of their bite size gyoza and their fried chicken nugget sometimes needs more flavor but overall, very solid ramen joint. Shinsengumi is in trouble!

There’s no shortage of ramen joints in the Torrance/​Gardena area. With so many places that serve great ramen, there’s one place that stands above… Hakata Ikkousha. What makes this place stand out? The broth. it’s amazing!
Ordering is simple. You’re given a paper and marker. Mark the type of ramen you want, texture of noodles, green onions or not, and that’s it. Want extra add-​ons? Not a problem! Just mark the a la cart items as well as any sides.
The tonkotsu broth is smooth and creamy. You can tell that it took some time to make. Everything about the bowl or ramen is on point, and at a price that won’t break the bank.
There’s usually a line, but moves at a decent pace. If you have to wait, don’t worry, it’ll be worth it.

Hakata Ikkousha is proud of their ramen and they are not shy about it. There is a tv replaying the show they were featured on, slow-​mo of the drying of the noodles included. It’s not difficult to see why though, since they do have good ramen to match.
I personally do not prefer thin ramen noodles, but to each their own. The broth was excellent and I had firm noodles, which made this a delicious bowl for me. I also added bamboo shoots to my Black Tonkotsu, which really wasn’t too garlicky, salty or overly bold in flavor. I guess this is what you’d call «just right». There was a thin piece of chashu and you had to add a soft-​boiled egg (what?!) for an additional $ 1.50. I have to note that my friend got the Mentaiko Ramen, which was not that spicy at all and the broth was INCREDIBLY TASTY so yours truly effed up on the ordering here but that’s ok. There will be a next time!
Figuring that we also got gyoza and a piece of fried chicken, we both opted out of the egg. The bowl of ramen was smaller than what I’m used to, but thank goodness we had those apps! The gyoza was excellent with a thin wrapper and light filling. It came with a dash or either yuzu or ponzu hot sauce, which went so incredibly well with the gyoza dipping sauce. Like I don’t even right now.
The fried chicken was nothing to write home about, sorry. Yes, it was juicy, yes it was crispy and not too battered. It was just frying a piece of chicken correctly with light seasoning so you just get the chicken flavors out. It came with seasoning on the side, which is my favorite part but hard to pick up with the chicken at times. I think I prefer karaage more, but I will have to admit that it’s not too often you find correctly fried chicken. So that’s my two cents right there.
Hakata Ikkousha is a ramen place I will have fond memories of despite them making me pay for premium toppings I believe are substantial to a bowl of ramen. I’m not being passive aggressive here, just honest.

This may be an overstatement but, I feel there may be as many ramen joints in this area as there are Starbucks; and trust me, some of these places are really good. Which is why I feel opening a new ramen shop here is such a risky venture, considering I have so many amazing places to compare it to that are just around the corner.
All biases aside, I felt that it was «pretty good» at best. I went with the level 2 (pretty moderate spice level) «God Fire» ramen and while the name is definitely unique, the actual dish itself was a bit more lackluster. I love super rich broths and I wasn’t quite getting that here. The char shiu was pretty lean so maybe that factors into all this… somehow. It’s possible I ordered wrong, but it was cold and raining outside which brought about a weird craving for something spicy (I can’t explain it).
We ordered the chicken karaage for the table and while it definitely could have used a bit more seasoning, the portions are quite generous and fried well.
So ya, to be frank, this definitely isn’t in my top 3 per say but, I wouldn’t go as far to say I wouldn’t give it a second chance. I’d say give it a try at the very least; just don’t come during rush hours because that line can definitely build.

What a great find!!! Went to our fellow Unilocalers for this hidden little gem. ⁴¹⁄₂ stars and practically in my backyard? Gotta see what the buzz is.
When you first come in, you put your name down on a list if there’s a wait (which their usually is). An order form is sitting at your table once you sit. Circle your selections. A menu is at your table in case you need pics to order. Write your sit number, then the server picks up your order form.
The ramen is top quality. The dashi (soup) is rich and flavorful. The gyoza is fried perfectly and the chicken is nice and crunchy.
Pro tip… a wait is inevitable, so be prepared to wait about 15 – 20 minutes (not too bad) and try to sit away from the door on cold days. (An awful draft comes in).

Unilocal challenge 2016 (²⁄₁₀₀)
Second time is always the charm! Came back and got the Black Tonkotsu ramen. IT TASTES BETTER THAN IT LOOKS I PROMISE! It had SOOO much more flavor than the regular tonkotsu. It’s definitely my fav! The most authentic Hakata style ramen in South Bay. Chicken and gyoza was good as well and fast & friendly service by our server, Chad! :)

I stopped in to Hakata Ikkousha after hearing about how great it was from my family who lives in Torrance. Going all the way out to Gardena or even Little Tokyo is always more difficult than it seems, even if the ramen places are good out there. Ikkousha’s menu is fairly straightforward and simple. Similar to Hakata Shin Sen Gumi, you choose your own adventure by indicating your noodle preference, soup strength and base, toppings, and any additional side dishes on a piece of paper. Three of us had the traditional Hakata tonkotsu ramen, one order had extra cha shu. There was also a cha shu don order and the four of us shared two orders of the gyoza and an order of the chicken karaage. The karaage is a must get item, and while the gyoza were a little more oily and greasy than I’m used to, they were little so you didn’t feel all that bad about it. The ramen was served hot in a large bowl, and was incredibly creamy and rich. The noodles were perfect in texture, and I keep going back to that soup base that warmed my core on a chilly winter evening.
My only regret in all of this is that I didn’t order the flavored egg since I assumed the ramen would come with one. If you’re an egg enthusiast, don’t forget to circle that as an extra topping you want to add! Service was quick and friendly, and I’m lucky that we didn’t have to wait since it looks like this place gets popular and there isn’t a lot of standing room. I will definitely be back here!

I’m usually not a fan of ramen with thin noodles, but I actually enjoyed them at Hakata. Broth was very tasty and not very oily. Ramen came with the typical char siu and green onions. Char siu was tasty but nothing overly special (not like the juicy, fatty pork belly of my favorite shops).
Good price. Even after adding on the egg, the ramen was about $ 10, which is a few dollars less than many places nowadays.
Service was quick and workers were polite. The restaurant was clean although maybe a little cramped in certain seating areas.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience here and would recommend trying it once, but I also probably won’t be rushing back in the near future.

«irasshaimase» is what you’ll hear as you enter the restaurant. ‘come in“
I’m glad I did. It was so good, I went back the following week. YUM!
It’s small. Some tables and a long counter area by the wall for solo dinners.
They put a piece of paper on your table with your food options. Each table has a number. You write the table number and highlight the ramen, add ons, side dishes or rice bowl you want to order on the paper provided. Hand it to the waiter and wait for your order to arrive.
For starter i got the Special Fried Chicken. WOW! Boneless dark meat chicken (it’s a big piece) Super crispy outside and super tender and juicy inside. This is indeed a special fried chicken. Just be warned, it’s piping hot when they give it to you. It came with some white pepper which definitely kick up the spice level a bit. A Perfect fried chicken. DELICIOUS! Get this for sure.
Tonkotsu Black «Creamy pork soup with a specially made mild garlic oil. Served with thin straight noodles, homemade chashu, wood ear mushroom and green onion» I added the premium topping which is «Chashu (3 pcs) and flavored egg (1)».The broth had a deep pork flavor. The garlic comes through, but not over powering. The chashu was thinly slice and super tender. Yum! The egg was perfectly executed. The yoke was still in the soft boil stage.
On a subsequent visit, we asked what the difference was between the Gold Fire & Mentaiko Tonkotsu. Our waiter was kind enough to bring us a sample of each (a nice sized bowl too). We decided that Mentaiko was better.
Gold Fire had a good porky flavor. The spice level (heat level 1 to 4) at #1 was very mild IMO.
The Mentaiko Tonkotsu’s flavor was a deeper more complex pork flavor. DELICIOUS! I also got the Premium Topping with this order and they were good a second time =) Comparing this to the Tonkotsu Black, I would have to say I liked the Mentaiko Tonkotsu better, but you can’t go wrong with either.
They serve thin straight noodles here. It is good, but I do prefer the fatter ramen noodle.
Service was polite, fast and friendly. Free sample made it even better.
Price was reasonable. Just watch the add ons, they add up fast.
«Arigatō» (Thank You) for a really good bowl of ramen. With winter here, I have another place to frequent. Yum Yum Yum. Try them out for yourself and decide =)
2015 Review #178 (My last review for 2015)
Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!

Wow this place totally exceeded my expectations. I did NOT think Hakata was going to be as good as it was. My all-​time fave ramen spot is «Monta» in Las Vegas — mainly because they serve black garlic oil ramen which I haven’t been able to find any where else… until now… until Hakata! Wow, the noodles are soft, thin and perfectly cooked to perfection. The egg add-​in is a MUST. The service is on point: friendly and fast. I’m so happy I found Hakata… I’m definitely looking forward to going back.

Upon arrival you’re greeted with smiling faces and a loud traditional welcome. You sit down and on the table you’ll find a few things– the menu opened up to the pages that describe their ramen, some markers and paper to write your order on. You can create a bowl of ramen exactly the way you want it! You can choose the texture of your noodles, the intensity of your broth and add in toppings.
Boyfriend ordered the tonkotsu mentaiko with premium toppings (3 pc char siu and boiled egg) and I ordered the god fire level 2 with boiled egg and seaweed. We also ordered gyoza as an appetizer. They are small but just right. A light crisp and quite juicy. We thought about ordering more if ramen did not make us full.
As for the ramen, it was TO DIE FOR. We haven’t had actual ramen in a while because we’ve been eating the tsukumen at Tsujitas ever since we discovered it. The broth was so rich and flavorful! I liked my boyfriends broth more because, besides the spice, it had a unique flavor to it in which the menu claims you won’t find anywhere else. I’m sure of that! As far as my own soup it was still great! I only got level 2 spice and at first it was nothing but after eating a whole bowl my mouth was on fire. They give just the right amount of ramen. Not a lot and perfect to order an appetizer like we did. We were satisfied but not crawling on the floor full. We didn’t end up ordering more gyoza.
I think my only «complaints» is that the noodles I ordered (hard) weren’t as al dente as I liked. Also I will opt for the premium toppings next time because my bowl only came with 1 slice of char siu. Their char siu is thinly sliced. Think of the slices of rare meat you get in a bowl of phở.
All in all I had a REALLY great experience here. Servers were extremely nice and attentive. I mean they don’t really have an excuse because the restaurant is small and intimate. We are definitely coming back! The only place we’ll ever get a nice bowl of ramen from here on out.

Really good new ramen place that just opened up! It is located in the same plaza as Torihei and 85 degrees. So plenty of parking for everyone!
FOOD:
They have a limited menu offering traditional Japanese ramen and yummy appetizers. You are given a piece of paper when you get seated, where you choose what kind of ramen broth you want, how soft you want your noodles, the heaviness of your broth, and toppings. All self explanatory and really convenient because you get to personalize your bowl of ramen to your liking :)
I got the traditional tonkotsu ramen with normal noodles and the premium toppings. The bowl wasn’t as large in comparison to other ramen shops but it was very filling. The broth was delicious — very rich and fatty (almost creamy in a sense), filled with plenty of pork flavor, and not overly oily or salty. It was a hearty and full of flavor. The thin noodles accompanied the broth perfectly and soaked all the flavors up! The premium toppings were necessary to get more than just one piece of charsiu and that perfect runny egg. My only disappointment was the fact that they had no bamboo shoots in it. :/​I really liked how delicate the charisu was. It was sliced thinly and didn’t have a lot of fat around it. ⁴⁄₅
I also ordered a plate of the chahan (fried rice) and gyoza. My dad raved about the fried rice, proclaiming to be the best one he has ever had. It was really good I must say! Full of flavor and not dry at all. The rice still had a moist consistency and little veggies. The gyoza though was my favorite. It was charred on the outside to have a nice bite. They were very small but once you bit into it on the inside, you get a bunch of flavors. The meat inside was still very juicy.
SERVICE:
Really fast. The place was packed on a hot Sunday morning. People were already waiting outside at 11:40 and they opened at 11:30AM… They make sure to be as efficient as possible to accommodate all of their guests. Overall, my first experience was great and I can’t wait to come back!

Hakata Ikkousha Ramen is one of the Japanese ramen chains originated from Hakata-​ku in Fukuoka City. Just like Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, Hakata Ikkousha Ramen has been expanded and open various overseas locations (from Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, and two stores in Southern California — Costa Mesa location is the 1^st U.S. store). Apparently the founder of this ramen chain won various ramen awards (e.g. Ultimate Ramen Champion in 2011 & 2012).
Hakata Ikkousha Ramen is located in the same plaza as Torihei & 85 °C Bakery Café in Torrance. I didn’t have to wait when I came here at 11:30 AM, but it started to get crowded after 12 PM ~ 12:30 PM.
Condiments include crushed garlic, spicy pickles vegetables (pretty good), ginger, ramen sauce, sesame, pepper, and soy sauce. You write your order on a sheet of paper and you can also adjust taste (light or normal), noodle texture (soft, normal, hard), green onion (yes, no, extra onion), or additional toppings (e.g. premium topping = three pieces of chashu and one soft boiled egg).
Menu: Five ramen options — Standard Tonkotsu (pork based broth), Tonkotsu Shio (salt — a slight fish flavor with a kick of black pepper), Tonkotsu Mentaiko (Ikkousha’s unique ramen), Tonkotsu Black (garlic flavor), and God Fire (spicy tonkotsu ramen — level one to four). Other dishes also include gyoza, mini donburi, Gold Fried Rice, and fried chicken.
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Hakata Specialty Hitokuchi Gyoza (Ikkousha style — 5 pieces, $ 3.50): Nicely fried on the bottom, good skin, and pretty flavorful. Too bad that these gyoza were pretty small and slightly too oily. (⁴⁄₅)
Special Fried Chicken (marinated with Ikkousha sauce — 1 piece, $ 3.00): Too much fried skin with slightly moist meat. I wouldn’t get this again. (³⁄₅)
Tonkotsu Black ($ 8.90 + $ 4 premium topping = three pieces of chashu and one soft boiled egg): Broth tasted smooth at first, but saltiness began to build up and linger on my tongue. Chashu pieces were more like beef brisket — soft texture, but too much marination. Noodles had an excellent texture and it was the only noteworthy highlight. (3.5÷5)
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By the end of my meal, I realized that cost can start to add up (total ended up approximately $ 20). If I have a second chance, then I will not order fried chicken and premium topping again (that’s $ 7 right there). Overall a VERY solid 3.5-star ramen restaurant, but I’ll bump up slightly and give some benefit of the doubt

Why you gotta be so far from me, Ikkousha? As soon as I saw this ramen place on Unilocal a month ago, I just had to try it. Everything looked so promising and dank from the photos and I definitely got reeled in all the way from the 626. I believe this is a ramen chain from Japan and according to the wall in there, the founder has won many awards selling lots of ramen so obviously it’s popular.
The décor is good for a ramen place. It’s brightly lit, seats a decent amount of people without it becoming a huge feeding factory like at Noodle World, and they even have standard ramen bar-​like seating to the right of the entrance. The service is friendly and they do their job well. One thing I really like is that they also have pitchers of water right there for you to self-​serve. I tend to drink a lot of water, especially when eating ramen so it was nice to not have to flag down servers every 30 seconds for it. They also have sesame seed grinders, pickled veggies that go well with the broth), and gyoza sauce.
I went with the standard Tonkotsu Ramen with an order of Gyoza. The other options for broth that they offer are really enticing (mentaiko, godfire, black, shio). The gyoza was the best gyoza I’ve had thus far. The skin was perfectly crisp, while the meat filling was really porky and flavorful. I applaud them for making something so seemingly simple stand out quite noticeably. Another thing to note is that their gyoza dipping sauce has a strong yuzu flavor.
My Tonkotsu Ramen had the premium topping option added to it and I can’t see myself ordering it any other way. The broth is excellent as the taste falls somewhere between Tsujita LA and Shinsengumi. And just like Shinsengumi, you get the option of choosing your preferences with your ramen (noodle firmness, amount of flavoring, extra negi, etc). They’re both Hakata style, so it makes sense. The chashu was really good and didn’t seem too fatty. Ramen is pretty fatty anyway, so I don’t mind if my chashu is more lean. The thin noodles went well with the broth and everything came together nicely. I order my noodles soft usually, and it was good, but I might try the normal next time. The egg was soft-​boiled just the way we all like it. Is anyone else also confused as to why Shinsengumi is still serving those hard-​boiled eggs?
Anyways, overall it’s a very good ramen place. If I had to rank it, I’d say it’s #2 or #3 in SoCal after Santouka and maybe Men Oh Tokushima. I’ll try Ikkousha a few more times before I officially decide. Either way, it’s better than Daikokuya. Maybe I’m a little bitter but I really don’t think Daikokuya is at all the best ramen in LA… maybe #5 if anything.

With the tragic quality decline of Hayatemaru and the untimely demise of Men Oh, I’m provisionally declaring Ikkousha to be the best ramen in Torrance.
Ikkousha hails straight from Hakata, a region in Japan known for tonkotsu ramen, which is ramen in a thick pork bone broth, generally using thin noodles. (For comparison, LA’s famous Daikokuya is also tonkotsu, though I strongly prefer the ramen here.)
Their menu is simple and brief: they have 5 varieties of ramen, which are:
Standard Tonkotsu — (Looks Gold) — This is their main variety, which you should probably try on your first visit. It’s quite fatty, but you probably won’t really notice this until ¾s through the bowl. The fat greatly enhances the flavor, and the broth is thick enough to almost taste creamy. The sliced chashu pork it comes topped with is of high quality: deliciously lean, soft, and chewy. Overall, a heavily flavor-​packed bowl of artisanal ramen.
Shio — (Looks White) — In Japanese, shio means «salt». This broth largely dispenses with the pork fat, which leaves a comfortingly salty broth that is almost akin to American-​style home-​cooked soup. It is much lighter than the tonkotsu, and recommended if you aren’t huge on pork fat.
Black — Tonkotsu further flavored with black pepper and garlic
Red — Further flavored with fish egg roe (mentaiko)
Fire — Further flavored with red spiciness.
I have only yet to tried the top two.
Also, I recommend trying their gyoza. Perfectly crisp on one side, soft on the other, with substantial chunks of meat inside. These were better than most gyoza from ramen restaurants – though still not as good as Daikokuya’s gyoza.
Prices are fair as well, leading my final rating to be nearly a 4, which I’ve rounded up.
It remains to be seen how long Ikkousha will remain the frontrunner ramen shop in Torrance, but regardless, I mostly likely will be back.
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外から見える看板に『つけ麺』って書いてあるのを見て、つけ麺が大好きな僕が興奮したが、残念ながらつけ麺は扱ってないみたいです。でもまぁ、ここの豚骨ラーメンはなかなか美味しいです。