Ichiran Ramen Restaurant

This little place was great! Just a short stroll from the temple nearby. I don’t speak Japanese but I had no trouble, the little ordering thing had English version and the staff were great. They had a little sheet with common phrases in English they pulled out when they were seating people to communicate things and a photo of the normal tables vs the little one person quiet booths so people could point at they type they wanted. They made it seamless! The ramen was delicious! I ordered way too to much and couldn’t finish it but would have eaten it all if I could have :) Sitting in the quiet booth was great as a solo traveller who struggles to use chopsticks 😅 It was an introverts dream! I went about 4.30 and there was only a very small queue but as I was leaving at about 5.30 there was a lot more people lined up. So maybe good to do earlier dinner if you don’t like queuing!

Tucked away below street level, Ichiran is a small, cozy ramen shop that you reach by walking downstairs. The space is compact, which often means a wait of around 15–30 minutes, especially during peak hours. However, the line moves steadily, and the experience is absolutely worth the wait. Before being seated, you’ll order from a vending machine, where you can easily select your ramen and any extra toppings. After that, you’re given a customization sheet to fill out, allowing you to choose exactly how you want your bowl prepared—spice level, richness of the broth, garlic amount, and noodle firmness. This personalized approach makes the meal feel special and tailored just for you. Seating is typically in individual booths, giving you a focused and unique dining experience centered entirely on the ramen. And the ramen truly delivers. The broth is rich, flavorful, and deeply satisfying, perfectly complementing the tender slices of pork and springy noodles cooked to your preferred firmness. Every spoonful is comforting and well-balanced. Overall, Ichiran offers not just delicious ramen but a memorable dining concept. Despite the wait and small space, the quality and customization make it a must-visit for ramen lovers.

Great Ichiran. This outlet as open the open table seating area along with the usual individual counter seatings. Food is good as usual. I came at 9.30am on Sunday and waited 3 minutes. By 10am there was a queue out the door already.

Delicious ramen. Highly recommended. The restaurant is in the basement of the building (you need to walk one level underground) and gets extremely crowded during lunch time with longer waits. We were fortunate to reach there just before the crowd came in. When you enter, you need to select your meal on a kiosk and collect the tickets. In the queue, you need to pick up the forms on the table where you select options (broth richness, garlic, spice, meat/no-meat) etc. to customize your meal. You then get option to select table seating or counter. We selected counter seating which is more secluded from the crowds outside and in my opinion a more fun experience. At the counter, you can select some more additions using the forms placed in your space and the call button.

Ramen is as what you expect, very standard. Queue system has now changed, one needs to get a queue ticket to join the queue. Once your number is near, you can join the queue to enter the shop. Once you enter the shop, you're in the queue to order ramen from the machine. After that, you're in the last queue to get your seat for the ramen. Though it took longer now, but what used to be one long queue now becomes separated which is better at least you won't be queueing outside in the cold winter.