Ippudo — Restaurant in Ikeda

The ramen sold here is delicious, the noodles have great texture and the soup is smooth and rich. There is a special option at this branch (Ippudo is a global franchise) which is spicy red miso on a tonkatsu base. It's still the same rich tonkatsu with a slight spice that makes it warm and comforting. I recommend trying the ramen as is to begin with to fully appreciate the fullness of flavour, but on your second time, which I'm sure will happen, customise is completely with extra spring onion, chashu, egg, wonton and others. The wait was a little long but not bad for Japan, around 20 minutes. You can browse the menu as you wait, and they take your order before seating you so it is ready once you settle in. Staff are friendly and fast, and the experience is one of my highlights of Japan. They also offer take home broth and ramen packets, which I'm happily taking to my ramen addicted sister back home. My next trip back will definitely include...

Happiness is when I get to sample a bowl of Japanese ramen in its place of origin...cooked on their land, by their hands, with their ingredients...& best of all, to have it in Ikeda, Osaka, in the hometown of the inventor of instant noodles, Momofuku Ando. 🍜

This bowl here, the Momofuku Motoaji, is a soy based, chicken stock soup ramen, is a tribute to him & can only be found in this branch of Ippudo in all of Japan. 🇯🇵

The soup in this ramen is pretty light in comparison with the pork bone broth version. I could taste the sweetness from the chicken stock with a tang of umami from the soy. Still a very good bowl of ramen indeed & glad to have had the chance to sample this here.🤤

Highly recommended as a food stop if you're on your way to the Cup...

The best ramen noodles of my trip and I will be heading back to try different variations.

This place is not hype and is one of the best reasons to visit Ikeda, much more so than the cup noodle museum.

The broth is flavourful but not too salty like many locations, they do the noodles perfectly to your desired firmness, great portion sizes, the char siu pork is tender and delicious and the mushrooms and nori is delicious.

Service is fast and they even have bibs for you if you are wearing something you don't want to risk splattering.

This place is excellent and the reviews are not hype or people who are having ramen for the first time, Ippudo has a...