Ichiran Main Store - Pilgrimage visit to a ramen chain's HQ in Fukuoka
ICHIRAN Select 5
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Every ramen lover will definitely want to do a pilgrimage visit to Ichiran main store in Fukuoka (regardless of how mainstream Ichiran is) at least once in their life, so we did last November!
So the million-dollar question is, how does it fare?
The standard ramen + the extras from ordering the ICHIRAN Select 5
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
4 slices of pork, kikurage, dried seaweed
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Half boiled salted egg
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
All mixed in
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Sliced Pork
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Half boiled salted egg
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Chilli Sauce
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
ICHIRAN Select 5 (¥1580)
Moment of truth for the million-dollar question at the cost of ¥1580.
Broth: Rich and creamy, full of flavours like saltiness, spiciness, meatiness, and subtle sweetness all in a nice balance.
Chashu: Mainly lean cut of meat cooked till tender and tasty, thickness slightly towards the thinner side. I generally prefer chashu with more ratio of fatty portion.
Seasoned Egg: Not the best ratio of golden runny yolk, but acceptable, so they pass the test.
Noodle: Round shape and thin.
Overall: The key is to customise your “dream combo” at Ichiran. You definitely can get a good to a great bowl of ramen if you get the customisation right for your preference. If it’s not, that means bad customisation on your part.
Another good point is that they open 20-24 hours a day, depending dining in the solo booth or the yatai area at the ground floor. That means you can get a consistently good bowl of ramen almost any time of the day even at the wee hours.
Bad point is that it is rather pricey at ¥1580 for the ramen set (ICHIRAN Select 5).
Before we go to the ratings, we have to emphasis that there are 2 ratings below:
One based on our full customisation to our “dream combo” in our opinion.
And the other is the restaurant’s recommended default.
Rating: 3.5/5 (based on our exact customisation and preference)
Dashi: Strong
Richness: Extra Rich
Garlic: 1 clove
Green Onion: Green Onion
Chashu: With
Spicy Red Sauce: 4x (in the picture mine is 2x only, but the wife ordered with the 4x for comparison sake, and we think 4x is more of our preference)
Noodle Texture: Medium
Rating 2.75/5 (based on default shop recommended, you can refer to the reference order sheet below, those with dotted circles)
Ichiran Order Sheet (taken off Google search)
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Design of the ramen bowl
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
One area of the signature solo cubicle seatings
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
The solo cubicle seating
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Ticketing Machine
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Lantern
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Restaurant Building
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
Shop Front
Ichiran Main Store 一蘭 本社総本店
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Address: 福岡県 福岡市博多区 中洲 5-3-2
Opening Hours: 9am-5am Daily (solo booth), 24 hours daily (yatai area, ground floor).
Payment Method: Cash
Website: http://ichiran.com/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/fukuoka/A4001/A400102/40000130/
(Last visited: November 2019)