ICHIRAN Ueno (Atre) — Restaurant in Tokyo

Was surprised to find a 20-30 minute long queue for this location at around 9pm on a Friday night. We didn't mind waiting as we weren't too hungry and had no other plans, but you may wish to track down a bowl elsewhere if you're tight on time. Ichiran is a chain restaurant so there are plenty of other locations you can try your luck at across your trip.

We had plenty of bowls of ramen across our trip, Ichiran always stands out as a must try for me though as all the elements you want are present. Each bowl is fully customisable before you order, so if you want the broth a little less rich or you enjoy a bit more spice then you can do that. The only challenge is knowing what your own perfect bowl is and deciding that for yourself before you order.

Ichiran has everything I want in a good bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen, the special sauce they add on top gives it that X Factor that always makes me remember it fondly even after trying many other bowls at different places.

For those who haven't tried an Ichiran before, the interaction with the staff is fairly limited by deisgn. You order what you want at the machine, customise it on your order form and then press a button for the staff to attend quietly to you from the magic ramen window at your booth. Service is very fast and efficient and everything you need is at your own private booth including a cold water tap and reordering materials.

This location was great for us, but if it looks like there is a wait you don't want to commit to then I still strongly suggest seeking out another Ichiran location on your trip to try it at least once. If nothing else it's worth trying just for the experience, but the ramen is also...

First thing in the morning??? :0

Well, first of all, we made this trip last year hopping as any time we visited japan, to enjoy a feisty meal, and we had already had ichiran ramen somewere else, nevertheless, we discovered this place sooo near to our hotel room, and so conviniently near to the place were we where suposed to be, that we decided to take a look.

It was a cold morning, and wasnt open when we started the line, like 15 minutes passed away and a long lane of people entered the place next to us, we ordered in a machine, a bowl of ramen, extra egg, extra scallions or long green onion, a bottle of tea and sat down.

You just have to choose strong of the broth, extra garlic, firmness of noodles, dont worry everything is in english.

Its a small place, but you can enjoy plenty by your own the distinctive flavor of tonkotsu ramen, with a little bit of spice, and plenty of onions.

just to think about it made me crave japan again.

There is no way to blame any part of this. You get what you expect to get. A good bowl of ramen, as bad or good as you crave it, with minimum contact service, and a very particular and enjoyable experiencie.

This place and all japan is awesome.

Please remind this is a fast food like service, they dont expect you to have a party in this place, you chose, you sit, you eat and be ultra happy and you leave!

Please take me with you next...

There's an Ichiran in NY, but I never cared enough to make the trek to Williamsburg to try it. I'm glad I finally got to try out the chain while I was in Tokyo. We came on a Tuesday at around 6ish, and there were a few people ahead of us. By the time we left, the line wrapped around a few times.

You order and pay for your ramen via a machine before being seated. It’s cash only, or you can pay with your Suica card. You're also given a form to fill out on your ramen preferences (spice level, how you like your broth, texture of your noodles), which you hand to the server once you sit down. You never actually see your server, because you're sitting in a cubicle, and they hand you/collect everything through the small window in front of you, which is only waist-high. The idea is that you are only focused on the food, with little distraction.

The ramen itself was great, and I'm not a huge ramen fan to begin with. Everything was exactly as my ramen form was filled out to be. I also had a beer, and my total was less than any one bowl of ramen in NYC. Plus, I left stuffed. Supposedly, there's a new NYC location opening up in Times Square, so I'd be interested to see how that one is. Though I would imagine pure and utter chaos, and it would probably be double the price. So maybe not. Guess that just means I'll have to go back to...