Ichiraku Ramen — Restaurant in Ohio

Went on a Friday at 7pm! I love anime so I was excited to go here due to the theme. It's a cute little place that is short on seating, but that's because of the little area they have. They did set up some seating outside in warmer weather. They seemed to be extremely under staffed to the point we waited a long time for our food and my ichiraku iced coffee was forgotten until we asked at the end. They do have orders coming in from online so I get that it can be rough to clear tables and food out timely. Once we said we wanted to dine in , they did clear 3 tables so we could choose from 1. I ordered the grilled chicken ramen and let me tell you the flavor is AMAZING! The chicken was so delicious and the broth had a nice flavor to it as well that soaked up nicely in the egg and the noodles. The noodles to me came out a little bit...tougher than normal/should be I guess I would say. The noodles had different texture in some and others they were just right, which not sure how that happened that they werent all consistent texture (our bowls sat out made while they finished our buns since they came out together maybe?, but let the noodles sit in the broth for few min to get a better/uniform texture if this is the case in yours. I know, eat noodles first usually but this case it was better to let them sit slightly in the broth. He got a spicy pork ramen which I tried his pork and it was a little fatty. He even said my chicken was better. The banzai buns were very tasty and recommend to try! Bubbletea is a must. They have so many flavors...I actually got the ichiraku iced coffee, even though it came out way late and we had to remind her to make it for us, the taste of the coffee was robust (in a good way) Final say...flavor is on point! Seating is limited so ordering to go ahead of time may be a decent option. If this place can get more staff and keep up with how busy they get to reduce wait times then I think it will become 1 of the best places in town! The price may seem expensive but legit this is what going out to eat costs nowadays people...you leave full so it's worth it, and I even took some food...

So let me hit you with this, this place, this business, THIS ESTABLISHMENT. Is without a second thought in my mind sells THE BEST food in Lakecounty.

My buddy and I went here just today and my order was rather decent.

Shrimp Tempura. Pork Chasu Ramen. Ebi Katsu Buns(Shrimp Tempura Buns) Side of Tofu. Fried Rice. Garlic Ginger Sauce(Yaki) Strawberry Banana Bubble Tea.

My friends, it was Devine. The service immaculate and just feels good all around. The VIBE is perfect, anime on the TV the music a fine Japanese LOFI. But you're not hear for this, you came for the FOOD and THE FOOD was out of this world. The BUN, THE BUN OF THE EBI KATSU; like a cloud, soft, sturdy all around perfect.

The Shrimp Tempura, fried to perfection coated in a sweet and zesty sauce that was out of this world. The shrimp had great flavor and I without shame devoured them crispy boys.

The Tofu was so tender, such a great pallet cleanser that would lead into the main dish. But wait there is more, not only was the Tofu good. The Fried Rice, THE FRIED RICE HAD NO REASON to be as good as it was. Sticky, not to salty, not lacking in flavor at all and adding the Yaki to it. DIVINITY Does not even come close to it.

The Bubble Tea, Oh my LAWD the Bubble Tea; you don't want to stop drinking it, you want to sip it down after only the first two sips after you get over the shock of the bubbles coming up the straw and giving you a surprise of gummy delightful flavor.

Now the Ramen, that Pork Chashu with the HEALTHY slices of pork belly so tender that not even I could use chopsticks to grasp it. Was so flavorful, so tasty, no over-whelming salt, perfect noodle to broth ratio. The soft yoke boiled egg adding even more flavor.

This place, this business deserves all the credit and has settled with me as a FIVE STAR, BEST FOOD IN LAKECOUNTY and you CAN'T...

In the past couple of weeks, I've had occasion to order from here several times. I was thrilled to see they had a vegan menu and have been trying to sample a new item with every take out order. Thus far, I have tried the tempura, the edamame dumplings, the side order of tofu, the shoyu ramen, the yakisoba, the agedashi buns, and the Okonomiyaki as well as some of the bubble teas.

For the most part, the food is okay. It's obviously fresh and prepared to order but lacks the distinctive flavors I've come to expect from Japanese cuisine. Even the matcha bubble tea was weak. I was most disappointed in the ramen. While the noodles were cooked perfectly, the broth was watery and lacked depth of flavor; there seemed to be a dearth of aromatics or, indeed, any element that would give it the deep umami flavor that a ramen broth should have, even a vegan one. I would have also liked it to contain tofu as a protein but it did not. The yakisoba was better and more flavorful as were the agedashi buns but the okonomiyaki was bland and disappointing.

Also, the first time I ordered the tofu side, I received four good sized triangles. The next time, I got four extremely thin slices which fell apart when picking them up. I dislike this sort of inconsistency in my food orders.

As this is the only branch of this chain I've eaten from, I can't judge if the blandness of the food is the company's attempt to target a broad range of American palates or if this particular location is still trying to find its footing. I love Japanese food and flavors so will keep coming back and hoping that they tweak their recipes a bit to impart more sapidity into their selections. On my...