Pikaichi — Restaurant in Medford

Ah, what a gem! I wish I had discovered this place sooner. So good. So, so good. Just seeing the pictures makes me wish I was eating it right now. Nestled in kind of a residential area, it may be easy to miss. Street parking only as I'm aware, but easy to find. Unassuming and unpretentious, you are immediately greeted with enthusiasm and warmth. Getting here early is key as it doesn't have a ton of seating and fills up quickly. This is partly due to many solo diners, like myself (sorry 🙁). Service, excellent! The lady is so sweet and your food is ready very quickly. The chef brought my bowl over the first time, he was so nice and seemed proud of what he was serving-as he rightly should be! A big beautiful bowl of pillowy noodles and incredibly tender pork immersed in a flavorful broth 🤤. The first time I got [I will check the menu and update] and the side of curry, my second visit the miso broth with pork. Everything was delicious! I was way too full the first time which is the only reason I didn't get the curry again. Their ability to balance heat with the delicate components of the broth is impressive. You will hear a lot of slurping. It's a sign of respect to the chef and although I knew that, I was initially surprised because, in retrospect, I guess I've never been somewhere so authentic. From the texture of the noodles, to the fresh flavors and vegetables in the broth, it will ruin instant noodles forever. Don't say I...

This ramen shop was phenomenal! Definitely on MA’s top 3 best ramen that I’ve tried so far. First, the name of the shop is dope! It’s like Pikachu! Similar sounding names so it’s a catchy name. One thing for sure is this place gets good traffic; so we waited for a bit before being sat down to eat. How they greet the customers is amazing, like you’re actually walking into a Japanese ramen shop. So once we sat down, the atmosphere was nice, with nice mellow music playing in the backgrounds. They have the walls decorated with paper mache swans in various colours and patterns which was photo worthy. Then me and my buddies all ordered their special sodas which are packed with sugar but have a great taste. Finally we got spicy miso soup with pork! The broth was tasteful and the spicy ness isn’t too bad but for those like me who cannot handle spicy spicy, it made me sweat but I continued to slurp it down until done. It was good with a nice punch. I added eggs to it, and the egg was placed well and not cooked all the way. Just right where the yolk wasn’t boiled through. And the noodles seemed authentic like they were made there. Every thing was fresh and I know imma go back for more of this ramen soup and to try...

I have been a fan of Pikaichi since I first had their spicy miso ramen five years ago. They were then located in the Super 88 store in Allston. The small restaurant sat about 15 people at a time, and had the most friendly, efficient, and competent staff I have ever experienced in a place with such a quick turnaround. The menu was small, but included about six different types of ramen, plus a few appetizers and other treats. As a creature of habit, I always ordered the same thing - spicy miso ramen, curry rice, and shrimp shumai. The ramen was always perfect with noodles cooked just right, a flavorful spicy broth, pork, corn, nori, green onions and a wonderful pepper oil. The portions were so huge I manged to always have a great lunch the next day.

Sadly, they had to move to a new location in Medford. I visited recently and while the ramen tasted the same, there were many unpleasant updates. The portions were smaller (cleverly disguised with an odd shaped bowl), there were no appetizers, and the staff, while cordial, did not have the same personality of the old location. While I would still go back for the ramen, I have to shed a little tear in memory of the original experience. Sometimes change isn't...