Hakata Ikkousha — Restaurant in Kyoto

Staff were friendly and accommodating with the little Japanese that I knew. The stuffed chicken wings are a must! It’s like gyoza filled inside some crispy wings (flats which are much more superior, bonus!) this is probably the only thing I’d order next time.

The ramen looked great, however like others have mentioned there’s this bit of swiney odor that at first I thought was the pork broth, after trying the broth by itself repeatedly it wasn’t it. Finally pinpointed the flavor and it was actually the noodles!!!

It was such a familiar taste and smell and it clicked to me. When I don’t change out my pot of water when boiling ramen noodles at home, this is the same exact smell and taste that would occur. As I peaked into their open air kitchen their water setup for their noodles looked like yellow lava from all the noodles being boiled, probably never being changed out the whole day, mind you we went during night time. Maybe revisiting during the morning with a fresh batch of water will be worth a shot.

The after taste was almost chemical tasting, like acetone or ammonia, I don’t even know, it was very off putting and confusing because I really wanted to enjoy the bowl but it was too much to handle.

Located at the Kyoto station, however a couple of floors up, a bit confusing but was able to find a blog on Google that explained how to go about the elevators.

Will need to visit again in the morning to see if it’s any...

if i can give this place 0 star, i would have done it. we are really disappointed with how the staff treated customers. there is a rule saying one bowl per customer age 12 and above.

we came around 6.45pm for dinner on a saturday.

our family ( 2A 2C age 8 and 4) were only given 3 seats for ordering 3 bowls of ramen. why are we not given a priority to seat together and enjoy our food as a family afterall we paid for it. instead i was made to wait outside while wife and kids are inside eating and the staff made no effort whatsoever to help us seat together.

they only allow me in when wife says daughter sit on her lap and we ate in a squeezy manner. totally horrible experience on customer service part.

ok fine. we move to the ramen taste bit. got the largest bowl. thought its tasty according to what they put in the ramen koji introduction board at the entrance.

soup taste is bland and diluted. meat is not salted to taste. feels tasteless meat in the mouth.

you are better off going to ippudo (porta dining) with cheaper option, better customer service and they let us share and sit together as family (and respectful).

while eating ramen, staff are busy shouting outside trying to attract customers (that got even more annoying as time goes by)

if you have small children with you, just stay away.

in summary, ramen koji is overrated.

smaller ramen shops around kyoto taste so much better too with...

FOOD POISONING!!!

My family and I came here earlier this week and from the minute we entered I knew this was not going to be good. There is a very distinct sour and fishy smell in the restaurant. When we got the noodles my parents ordered the pork broth which did not taste fresh, just extremely salty. I ordered the spicy noodle and it was slightly better but as a salt lover, I was gagging over how salty it was. Less than 24 hours, food poisoning is running through the family. Our Japan trip is now ruined because we decided to stop here. Avoid avoid avoid. Go to a different stall or even better go to something like Ichiran where you know the food quality. I am absolutely horrified. This is hands down the WORST ramen I have ever tasted. I normally get very good food in Japan and was so excited to share this with my dad who is here for the first time. You're much better off...