Tokyo Station Ikaruga

We finally found Ramen St and then had the issue of picking which place to try. We decided on here as it had a decent sized line but not crazy long. I picked ramen option #1 on the machine and Graeme went for #3 as well as beers, making it just over ¥1000 (£6) each for our lunch. I was trying to order quickly so didn’t add on extras (eggs etc) but would do that next time.
We didn’t have to wait long until we were seated and then our food arrived quickly after. Yep, this is some amazing ramen and we were both really impressed. I loved the broth of mine as it was creamy and delicious and the noodles were perfect. I like this kind of dining — you get in, eat your food and get out again — there’s no hanging around. We were kind of slow at eating ours compared to others but we were still out in maybe 15 minutes.
I’d love to come back to Ramen St and would happily eat here again.

Maybe we didnt order the right ramen but the tonkotsu broth was so thick it was almost repulsive. It felt alot like the broth was meant more for tsukemen than an actual tonkotsu ramen.
Noodle itself was pretty decent, but the broth definitely put me off.

My first meal in Japan. It was just okay nothing really wow’ed me. I was honestly trying to eat at Rokurinsha which is a few steps away. But was a 50 min wait. I was down to wait Bc it’s on my to-​do bucket list. (Keep in mind) We just checked into our hotel and was running around town looking for SIM card store for our phones. Other than Airplane food this was our first real meal of the day. So you can imagine how cranky/​tired everyone was. So we just settled.
This places was quick, easy, no long lines, order at the vending machine, take your ticket, wait for your turn to be seated and done.
But I am coming back for you Rokurinsha.

Foodie’s Shangri-​La! Eight Tokyo’s best ramen shops battle ruthlessly for a spot in this notoriously nommy alley.
The elimination process was agonizing. My mouth was watering for everything! We settled for Tokyoeki Ikaruga because the Japanese word for «fish» on the vending machine outside caught my eyes. We ordered their specialty «slow cooked pork bone and fresh fish broth ramen» topped with lightly roasted bbq pork and half cooked eggs, and slow roasted bbq pork rice. Being a vegetarian for the first decade and a half of my life, I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to meat. The flavor, acceptability level of the meat «odor», the texture and the aftertaste. I must say, hands down for the bbq pork! It was probably the most fragrant pork I have ever experience in my short years of meat consumption. The texture was extremely tender, crumbling into pieces upon entering my mouth. My only slight complaint is that the broth is a little salty for my likings. This is the trend for most Japanese Ramen Shops (realizing this after trying about 10 different ramen restaurants.) The broth left a very distinct (combination of salty fish and pork aroma) after taste in my mouth and I concluded my otherwise highly enjoyable gargling down a glass of cold water.

Ikaruga seemed like one of the more popular ramen spots on the Tokyo Ramen Street, and the line seemed to go faster than Rokurinsha’s. Similar to the rest of the ramen shops, you order from a vending machine. There wasn’t really any English translations; you just have to look at the photos. The tables were more on the communal side, and a glass window separated you from the person in front of you.
I ordered #2, and perhaps Ikaruga just wasn’t the style of ramen I enjoy; I personally would try somewhere else next time. Both the broth and noodles had a different flavor than I was use to from Ichiran and Rokurinsha, and I much prefer Ichiran/Rokurinsha’s. The chashu was very tender, the egg was perfectly half-​boiled, and rather than pieces of cut bamboo (menma), you get a long shoot of it. Although Ikaruga isn’t my preference, I would still recommend checking it out if you have time, because you might enjoy this style!

This place has a vending machine so I don’t have to verbally order. It dispenses an order slip that one hands to the server and then they will cook it.
They have a long communal table and 2 4-​seater tables and some space in the corner. They have coat racks too.
The ramen here is tasty due to the broth and not due to salt. In that sense it is superior to Santouka. The noodles are better too.
Only problem here is the lack of seating. It took a while to get inside, since we were a large party. It is probably better to come alone since it is pretty close to all of the train transfer areas.

I ate my first «official» meal here. I opted to skip dinner the night before as I was so bone tired I could barely keep my head up. So when I awoke the next morning I was hungry. I calculated the last time I ate & with the time change & figured out that it had been over 20 hours since I ate. We checked out of the hotel & headed over to Tokyo Station only to find it was early in the morning & most places were closed. We spied this place headed over. I love ramen & what could be better for breakfast than a hot bowl of soba (yeah, I know not ramen but hey I prefer soba) with a nice piece of mackerel on top? The broth was wonderful, packed with flavor, hot & very comforting. The fish was grilled & wonderfully oily. And the buckwheat noodles were firm & filling. After my first couple of bites I forced myself to slow down so I could savor the rest of the bowl. Service was polite & efficient. Food outstanding.

The ticket machine wasn’t too difficult to use. The service was quick. The ramen was fairly tasty. The broth was dense, and the noodles had good texture. Groups don’t tend to work so well. You’d probably have to split up.

I absolutely love Japan, its food and the people. This is my spiritual home. We spent a week here in February 2015 and I was on a mission to try ramen at the base of Tokyo Station. Yes, I had read all the hoopla about Rokurinsha and I wanted to try it as my ramen pilgrimage. But with a 45 min wait… I had to switch to plan B. That’s when I saw Ikaruga. And, believe me, Ikaruga is not sloppy seconds. She is amazing in her own right. The tonkotsu ramen was the best I’ve ever had. Well, duh! I live in Southern California. Granted we have some great ex-​pats and Japanese chains here creating wonderful bowls of heaven. But ramen in Japan is an experience all on its own. Much like sushi. Both of which I will be an intolerable snob about going forward! LOL! I have to remember not to compare every Japanese dining experience to that I had in Japan and the exquisite traditional meals served by geisha in the ryokoans of Yukanada and Kyoto. Ahhhh… so I digress. The sole purpose of this post is to give Ikaruga a spot at the top of best ramen in Tokyo Station’s Ramen Street. And, from what I’ve heard over and over, is that Rokurishna ramen has that heavy fish taste. I had that same flavor in a ramen I had in Kanbayashi, Nagano. I am not a fan. As it turns out, I’m happy there was a line at Rokurishna. I really lucked out by ending up at Ikaruga.

Down a few shops from Rokurinsha is Ikaruga, another famous shop from Kudanshita. The queue is fortunately shorter and turn over rate of tables are pretty high. The best-​selling ramen is 特製らー麺 980yen, a deep bowl of noodles in tonkatsu broth blended with bonito and konbu. Full story:
This kind of fusion broth is also commonly known as «W-​Soup», which claims to remove any odd stench and to cut the richness of pure tonkatsu soup base. The noodles were of medium thickness and required less effort to chew than those burly types. Contrary to most glowing reviews, we found the tonkatsu broth a little too creamy and heavy on taste.
But the ingredients were excellent. Each slice of the char-​siu sliced to perfect inches with the machine at the kitchen were robustly flavoured. flesh tender and not too fatty. Meanwhile, the menma shoot emerged unscathed from the lukewarm broth in a single strand.
The Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen with eggs (870 yen) did not offer the spicy kick as one would usually expect from food labeled «spicy» in Japan. But fear not, there is free flow of powdery garlic crumbs and shichimi to boost the heat.
The main reason we headed to Ikaruga was to try the unique Cheese maze-​soba 850 yen that is only available from 2pm onwards. Served with a raw egg, the soba that still looked and tasted exactly like ramen were scattered with beautiful crumbs of three cheese; parmesan, reggano and red cheddar.
The egg is supposed to be cracked and mixed inside the red bowl before pouring into the noodles but we skipped the steps and crack the egg right onto the noodles. The outcome is a slimy pool of rich and delicious noodles that is light on the sodium.
The dipping sauce of the Tsukemen 850 yen is similar to the signature ramen, but more concentrated. The floating layer of Ikaruga’s homemade chili oil on the warm sauce adds to the allure and makes the noodles slurp-​worthy.
The sheer volume of the noodles implies that one either goes in on an empty stomach or share them with someone else. And if you happen to like cheese and ramen at the same time, have the cheese mazesoba first then maybe come back next time for the usual ramen. Full story:

For the most part, ramen is ramen. However, there are a few places that stand out for some reason or another. Perhaps it’s the extra special chashu. Perhaps it’s the broth which stands out from the crowd. This is such a place. Don’t get me wrong… all ramen is good, but only a few really stand out from the rest. The broth at Ikaruga stands out.
First of all, one thing you’ll notice is that women frequent the place. I’ve read they do, but while we were there, there were 5 women and 2 men.
The second thing you may notice is that the chashu sucks. Horrible. It’s exactly like the packaged chashu you buy at the supermarket. Dry, uninspired, thinly sliced, and icky dry pasty fat. Yuck.
However, the broth is where Ikaruga excels more than Vengara. More than Ippudo. More than that yummy smelling hole-​in-​the-​wall with the undecipherable menu that you pass by coming home from work every day. The broth is thick. Thick. Thick. Thick. This is tonkotsu with a vengeance. With every sip, you can taste microscopic pig bone particles filling your mouth with a chalky piggy fatty flavor and aroma. It’s like the broth was made from chalk. If that chalk was made of pig fat. They must cook those bones for weeks.
We had a rather pleasant conversation with two nice women sitting next to us. It so happened that our dinner guest didn’t like the ramen broth because it was too thick and heavy. She said it smelled too strongly (but this is exactly what lovers of tonkotsu crave!). Anyway, the two women confirmed that this restaurant is where the tonkotsu lovers come home to roost. You come here if you crave tonkotsu and can never find a ramen place with a strong enough broth to scratch your pig itch. When our friend said the broth was too strong for her the woman replied «But this is where you go for ultra strong tonkotsu!»
Half cooked eggs were terrific. Maybe cooked a LITTLE bit too long, but that’s OK. Bamboo shoots were cut somewhat big, and gave a very nice bamboo shoot flavoring which ramen lovers will no doubt love.
The broth was actually not too salty, so I consider our meal here a grandiose success. I give this place 5 stars unhesitatingly. I would come back here for, I too, am a lover of the tonkotsu.

even at a 92 on Ramen Supleks
this place is leagues ahead in yummy broth and noodles compared to what we have access to. complexity, savoriness, hints of smokiness, it’s just not fair how all the ramen here is so good. really nice bowl found in ramen alley in the tokyo station where you can sample many in one spot.