麵屋壹の穴 ICHI — Restaurant in Da'an District

Along with Okaeri, Ichi is one of the better ramen restaurants in the area, specializing in fish bone and chicken broth-based offerings. I’ve never had a fish bone broth ramen before this and find myself coming back time after time to savor the rich, smoky flavors. It’s actually quite addictive. The chicken broth I found pedestrian in comparison.

On this particular alley, sandwiched between innumerable businesses and retailers, this small ramen place is usually packed during lunch hours, requiring one to either come early or late to finagle a seat. If you come later, be warned that the fish broth often sells out first.

Noodles can be ordered thin or thick and one can choose between a heartier, more robust broth and a less saltier version adapted to Taiwanese tastes. The noodles themselves hew towards a darker shade of olive brown than I’ve seen elsewhere, are uniformly machine cut, and cooked al dente. Prices overall lean toward the cheaper side for a ramen restaurant and the first extra helping of thin noodles is complimentary. If you prefer to add thick noodles, it will cost an extra NT$30. You can also add freshly fried garlic for NT$20, though I thought it superfluous considering the richness of the stock. The fried chicken they offer as a side is highly seasoned and served piping hot.

Asahi is on offer if you would like to enjoy a brew with your savory fish broth, but so far, no one has looked askance at me for sneaking in my own...

What a wonderful, wonderful place...the best definition of eating local. Very small and hidden but the photos on Google will lead you right to it! We were greeted but these two awesome young gentlemen who helped us decide on what to eat, in the best English they could speak but, it was more than enough because we got exactly what we came for. The best ramen to ever grace our undeserving palatte's and on top of that, they played music from our country, that's right, the changed the music to Kwaito music right after we sat down. The atmosphere, vibe and laughs we shared with everyone working there was just special. It really is just a place for locals to go and get there nightly meals but it was an experience for us. We had the spicey pork noodles(if your used to high heat items, this not burn too much for you but be warned if your not used to spicy stuff. We also had the fish ramen and there most popular dish as well, it was the first thing on the ramen menu and the chef said it was his favourite. On top of that we added fried chicken, probably and casually the best fried chicken you'll ever have!! And of course some pork belly with crackling as well. We left there with the biggest smiles on our faces, we listened to awesome Kwaito and dance music, drank some beers and had the best time!!...

Not good at all. We came here due to the very positive reviews and were very disappointed.

Service: Very poor. Customers are expected to order via the machine but no one gave us any recommendations or suggestions, they simply left you there to order alone. For first time customers, be prepared to be confused in terms of finding the right bowl of noodles.

Food: Soup broth was really bad. I am personally a fan of thick broths because it means that the cooks took a lot of time to prepare it, and it has all the goodness in it. The broth here is thick for sure, but it does not taste like it was because it has been prepared for hours. Instead it tastes like the cook has just put in lots of powdered spices and added water to it. The broth is soo thick that it tastes weird and does not go well with the other ingredients! Also they added diced onions to the soup, i have never seen this presentation in a Japanese style ramen before. Really odd!

Overall: Definitely do not...