Ikimono Ramen — Restaurant in Portland

I visited for early lunch (around 11:30) on a Wednesday about three weeks after they opened.

I was the only dine in customer in the shop the whole time. When I walked in I was waved over to have a seat at the counter. I instantly knew what I wanted after a brief momentary glance at the menu (I’m a sucker for black garlic tonkotsu anytime I see it on a menu), but I wanted 3 or 4 minutes to order while he was sweeping or some such.

They brought on complementary Edamame. I don’t usually go for it, but I tried it and it was delicious. I’ve never liked edamame so much! Very salty.

My food came fast and was absolutely fantastic! The bowl was enormous. Lots of noodles - they were more of a thin style than I expected. Price was a bit more than I was enthusiastic about, but well worth it.

I...

This place does not skimp on the portion of ramen! The bowls are double the size of regular ramen shops, and their prices are really worth it. So many noodles!! I boxed up my leftovers, and only could eat half of my ramen. The tempura shrimp was deliciously crisp, not too oiley. Veggie summer rolls were okay, basic with iceberg lettuce and avocado.

Beautiful, fun and clean ramen shop with very nice person who took care of us. Flavor wise, their broth could use a little bit more precision. The tan tan ramen broth needed a bit more salt and acid. The black garlic ramen also needed a bit more soy sauce. Or perhaps they can have more condiments on the table - even after adding some soy sauce and chili oil, the broth wasn't really right... I'm a super taster. Downtown street...

Ordered their Karaage, Tonkotsu Ramen and Beef Pho. The Karaage was bite size pieces of chicken, batter fried judging from the coating. Glorified nuggets. Serving sizes are generous and the noodles are cooked well. My complaint would be with the broths for each of these bowls. Lacking any depth of flavor both were nondescript. I asked for some basil, fish sauce and cilantro to try to salvage the pho. They didn't have any. I can't imagine how you can make pho without having fish sauce. The ramen broth was also lacking depth of flavor and all I could taste was seaweed. Service was friendly and efficient. The downtown area seems eerily quiet. I guess like so many downtowns, Portland's is struggling to make a...