IPPUDO San Francisco — Restaurant in San Francisco

I had heard about Ippudo in New York, but I skipped going there since there were only so many places I could try, and I wasn't keen on standing in a long line. So when I walked by Ippudo's new San Francisco location late on a Friday night as the Warriors swept the Cavaliers to win the finals, and saw no one in line, I immediately hurried inside. Good timing too--a line formed not two minutes after I put my name down for a table. I am a ramen skeptic; I know what I love and it's rich, flavorful tonkotsu broth, fatty chashu, and soft-boiled egg, and woe to any ramen shop that gets any of these elements wrong. Ippudo knocked all of these out of the park! I found myself tremendously enjoying the noodles, which I ordered firm, and the chicken buns met the review hype with fantastic crunch and great flavor. The vegetarian miso ramen was also good, though obviously no comparison to the rich pork broth, and the sake list was extensive and stocked with great options. Service was friendly, efficient, and ubiquitous in a space that was clearly designed by a thoughtful professional eye, with crafted wooden tables and a metal tree sculpture as the restaurant centerpiece. The only objectionable thing here was the price; I am spoiled and used to getting soft-boiled egg in my ramen without needing to pay an extra $2. Despite that, I loved the ramen and the buns and would like to try other items on the menu, but I'll be ordering the tonkotsu ramen in the foreseeable future. Great stuff!

UPDATE: Came here again during NBA Finals season as it's the one proven time that the line is reasonable (15 minutes or less). Ordered the chicken bun, expecting the same delicious experience from last time, and was disappointed to see the amount of chicken had shrunk from a great portion relative to the bun, to a small chunk barely over a third of the bun itself. Color me disappointed. Ramen was still delicious, but the wacky small amount of chicken dwarfed but a regular sized bun warranted a one...

I really wanted to love this place, sadly it just didn't meet expectation. Came here earliesh to beat the lunch crowd on a week day, then the turnoff began... no one was at the door to greet customers when we arrived, there were two people ahead of us waiting just inside the door so we decided to wait behind them. The two were then seated and about 3 minutes later the host came and instead of seating us, asked us to wait outside the door. Not the easiest thing to do while a line was forming directly behind us. Its a good thing the weather wasn't too bad! When we finally got seated we were walked across the restaurant and i just couldn't understand what the wait was about as the place was only a 1/4 full. It did get a little better after we were seated, the table service was not bad considering how inappropriate the first impression was at the front door. Ok, now for the food: all 3 of us ordered the karaka tamago (the spicy ramen with egg) with firm noodles. I thought it was strange that our bowls of ramen were brought out in 2 minute increments although all 3 were exacly the same. Taste test: Nothing really spectacular, for the price point I was actually disappointed as i can name off a hand full of other ramen establishment with much better tasting and less expensive food. Not very spicy i might add. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, and I would go back if I had a craving for ramen. This place would just not be very high on my list to revisit. If you are in the mood to have decent overpriced ramen, do come by. Maybe the door service would...

We came here on a thursday night after watching a move at the AMC. Literally a 5 min walk from the cinema as well as Powell Bart station, makes it ideal for a quick bite when everything else is shut early. This place runs till 11pm and that was the main reason we went there.

We were hungry and it was a cold day so it was perfect for some hot ramen bowl :). There was of course a wait (it's SF!!!) but we didn't wait more than 20min and were seated in one of their community tables which we didn't mind at all.

10:30pm being close to wrapping up the night, they were out of appetisers but it was fine by us since we were there for ramen. Hubby and I ordered the Akura Modern $15 and Karaka spicy $16. Both good dishes though I preferred the Akura as it was less spicy and more balanced flavors. Broth was very nice but quite heavy and oily so it was enough for us. Meat seemed bit less and very thinly sliced though. Anyways, it was a good meal for such a late night on a thursday so I didn't mind it.

Service was very friendly and quick. Food was good and came very fast. Overall place is neat with spacious clean bathrooms though I didn't see any child friendly changing table which is sad since i will be a mom soon so might keep that in mind next time around I come with a baby ;). I thought prices were reasonable.

I don't think it is worth it to wait in line for more than 20min though but I would come back if in the area since it shuts quite late compared to...