Ippudou

I feel like it’s more towards 4.5 stars for me… but I round up fuck it. I mean this place has some delicious ass ramen for sure, but I think after eating Ichiran a few times, my mentality of ramen is that… if it’s not better than Ichiran it’s a waste of my time. LOL JK it’s not like that, but Ichiran was/​is the standard to which I hold all ramens to enter my body.
I actually tried to eat at Ippudo in NY but the line was 3 hours long so fuck. that. shit. I mean dinner at 11PM? No. So I thought since I was in Japan, why not try the real deal? I know it’s not exactly the same, but it’s like basically the birth parent so kinda the same.
Also one more thing, this particular location does NOT open at 7:30 AM on weekdays like it says on the Unilocal page. I tried, believe me lol. But they said they open at 11AM so I was like DAMN and they wuz like sorry and I was like k brb.
So it was like 10:59 AM, so we headed back and surprisingly enough, we were like 3^rd in line. Wtf, people are prompt.
Anyway I’m not sure of the name of the ramen I ordered, but it’s the red bowl with the chashu and the sexy ball of spicy paste thing. Added an egg to it also cos I gotta have egg with my ramen. Bf ordered the white bowl one with no spicy paste. And you can add rice + gyoza for 100Y! I didn’t do it cos I knew better but the bf did.
The soup was sooooo gooood. It was a blanket of pork love. The spicy paste thing wasn’t actually that spicy, but the flavor was pretty intense. Loved the soup. The noodles are on the harder side, and I prefer softer noodles, but it was still damn tasty. I now realize I don’t like those stringy black mushroom things though. Just a texture pref. I asked for no bean sprouts but I shoulda asked for no stringy black mushroom things also. That might’ve been too complicated for my basic ass Japanese though.
SOOOOOO. Ya this was delicious and definitely worth my time, even if it’s not better than Ichiran lol. Buuuuuut actually Ippudo chashu is better than Ichiran chashu so there’s that.

Yes, Ippudo is a chain, and this place is just one of millions Ippudo all over the world.
Yet they totally excel at offering consistent flavor at each location, from my experiences. It totally impresses me. Yes I’ve lived in USA so long where ramen is finally getting popular in a few selective cities, and ramens in USA are so behind compared to Japan, but every time I come back to this place I come out completely satisfied.
I always ask for «very hard noodle» because that’s the way I like my tonkotsu ramen.
Their tonkotsu soup is always good.
I like their free condiments like raw garlic, takana (pickled greens), etc
Their side dishes like gyoza are always solid too.
There’s not a reason not to come back if you are nearby, really. Just watch out not eating the greasy «red bowl» late night after getting drunk! Your stomach may not appreciate it!

I know Ippudo is a chain but their ramen are so tasty that I dribble as little bit every time I walk past a branch. Layers of garlic and a tiny chilli kick are infused into a salty, porky tonkotsu broth. Lunch set plus 100 yen for rice and gyoza is a bargain. The grief rice is also excellent and the staff are so nice… Even arranging things so I could take a photo, saying «long time, no see» etc. And it’s open until 2am. What can I say? I’m a fan!