Ichiran - Kyoto Kawaramachi — Restaurant in Kyoto

If you are in the area, Ichiran is a must do. The experience is unique. You sit at a bar on affixed stools that has individual partitions so you have a little bit of privacy from the person sitting next to you, but you can also open the partitions to talk to the person next to you. You place your food ticket order and your preference sheet in front of you on the counter. The server, who is hidden behind the half wall in front of you will take your tickets and the preference sheet— all without looking at you or speaking with you. After the server takes your food tickets, the server will close the bamboo screen so you don’t see anything. There is a self service water faucet in front of you so you can get your own water. There is a loud music cue to let the servers or the customers know food is ready and shortly afterward, the bamboo screen will be lifted and food placed in front of you. The ramen was delicious— I ordered the suggested medium richness and flavor. I noticed that the number of pork slices differed between us, from 2-4 slices even though we all ordered the same thing. Ordering and waiting: you order and pay first at a self service screen. You can order extra garlic and the screen says you get up to one clove free but it wasn’t obvious whether you ordered the one clove at the screen and the price would be reduced— answer: the garlic ordered at the screen is in addition to the choice of adding free garlic later. After ordering, you pay at the machine and then little tickets are printed of what you ordered. You hold on to these and wait in line to be seated. Each room only has 8 stools, so you have a larger group, you may have to be split up, and if you have over 8 people then you are definitely split up. While waiting in line, they pass out the preferences sheet for you to fill or you do it...

Dear ICHIRAN I I recently visited ICHIRAN KYOTO with family and unfortunately had a disappointing experience that I feel compelled to bring to your attention. During our visit, we encountered instances of RACIST behaviour within Asians from some of the staff that made us uncomfortable and unwelcome. It seemed as though there was a sense of disdain towards our party, which was disheartening and unexpected. As someone who appreciates Japanese cuisine and culture, it pains me to have to share this feedback. I believe in the importance of creating inclusive and welcoming environments for all guests, regardless of race or background. I wanted to reach out to you directly to express my concerns and to inquire about any steps that can be taken to address this issue. I think the Chinese, Taiwanese and Singaporean guests with me also felt the same. I sincerely hope that this was an isolated incident and not reflective of the values of your establishment but… I wrote this only because in the end. The guy who rejected us allowed his friends to eat 15 minutes before last order as well after we left. After rejecting us a big group who visiting only for 2 days. We were still within the opening time. While they reject us. Their three Japanese friends stood behind and laughed at us. ICHIRAN is such as disgrace for this and really changed my positive view of u guys. I never new ICHIRAN can have such unprofessional staff and I biased who treat foreigners different while laughing at foreigners with their Japanese friends from behind

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my feedback. I look forward to hearing from you soon and to hopefully having the opportunity to dine at your restaurant again under more positive circumstances. Best...

Really good ramen! The 45 minute standing wait was pretty brutal after a full day of walking around the city but I think it was worth it. You order using a vending machine on the second floor. The machine has some English so it's pretty easy to order what you want. After that, you get a sheet to customize your ramen. You choose how firm you want the noodles, how spicy the broth, etc. Lots of options! They also have recommendations if you haven't eaten there before.

Once you're seated, they take your customization sheet and give you your food pretty quickly. Each seat has a faucet for water and foldable walls on the sides. If you're with someone, just fold back the wall between you. Otherwise leave it if you want to eat alone.

There's a seating chart in the hallway that has lights corresponding to each seat. From what I can tell, they flash green when empty. After sitting, they transition from steady green to flashing red. I assume when they are busy, they expect you to eat quickly and not linger. The lights tell them who have been there the longest. In my experience, we didn't get shooed away or anything. However, we were starving by the time we got our food so we may have eaten fast enough for it...