ICHIRAN Kichijoji — Restaurant in Tokyo

I was very disappointed by the quality of the ramen after the good ratings. The noodles are clearly not fresh noodles and don't resemble a propper Ramen noodle at all. They are more like those dried Chinese egg noodles you get in any asian market. The soup seemed ordinary at its best. You can choose your intensity. I suppose one should go Max with this one. I had extra meat with it which was good. The additional pudding again was such a disppointment. It was pretty bad.

Everything seemed as if it was actually coming "from the bag" and wasn't actually freshly cooked but pre-prepared "industry food".

The restaurant is very neutral, you can sit in little cubical seeing nothing but a wall. I suppose if you want some quiet time that's ok otherwise that made for a lame and lonly lunch. The staff was, if present, friendly. In line with the apparent "eat as if you're alone" approach of this place, you usually only saw them if a...

Lined up down a set of stairs for about 20 minutes, which at first felt like a test of patience, but the wait moved surprisingly fast. Once inside, the whole experience felt unique...almost like stepping into a ramen ritual. You order from a machine, fill out a sheet circling your preferences (broth richness, noodle firmness, spice) & then sit in your own little cubicle where the ramen magically appears through a curtain.

The tonkotsu broth was rich & delicious, the noodles perfectly cooked & the whole set-up made it easy to just focus on the food. It’s fun, quirky & very different from any ramen shop back home.

Docking one star only because the price is a bit higher than some equally good ramen I’ve had elsewhere in Tokyo. Still, for the experience & quality, it’s absolutely worth trying...

Yes, it has a decent broth and good noodles. It’s kind of “revolutionary” I guess that you don’t have to interact with anybody at all here. It is definitely not the best ramen though. It’s also extremely expensive and often times the line is so long. For most people with an average appetite, you will have to order the “kaedama”, noodle refill just to feel full. Especially don’t go here if you want to eat with friends, since every seat has dividers between each customer. You can move them a bit, but still. It’s a fun experience the first time but I think there are much better, family run places all over Tokyo. Try those...