Ichiran ramen is is known for its rich, creamy tonkotsu broth and signature red sauce that adds a perfect balance of spice. The flavours are all about depth, richness, and balance, making it a favorite among ramen lovers. The dining experience is also unique.
The restaurant chain has been selling boxed noodle versions of their ramen for years and years but I've never tried it. I can actually buy it in Canada at T&T supermarket, but it costs $10 per serving and they only sell 4 packs. When I was in Japan this last time, I bought a two pack of Ichiran instant noodles for $10, which is pretty much regular retail in Japan.
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| 2 pack of Ichiran for 1000 yen ($10 Canadian) |
So, does the home version of Ichiran live up to the real thing? Read on and find out, but first, lets talk about the Ichiran restaurant experience.
Dining at Ichiran Ramen is a unique experience designed for immersive enjoyment. Guests sit in solo dining booths with wooden partitions, ensuring focus on the meal. The ramen is highly customizable, allowing diners to choose broth richness, noodle firmness, spice level, and toppings. Interaction with staff is minimal, as orders are passed through a small window in the booth, and food is served without direct conversation. The highlight is the rich tonkotsu broth, a creamy, flavorful pork-based soup paired with thin noodles. A distinctive red sauce adds spice and complexity to the dish. For those wanting more, Kae-Dama (extra noodles) can be ordered via a request slip. The quiet atmosphere lets diners savor every bite without distractions, making Ichiran a must-try for ramen enthusiasts.
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| An Ichiran restaurant in Japan. These days, there is a permanent lineup outside these establishments as they are on everyone's bucket list. |
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| The top of the box. It has the Ichiran logo and colour scheme. The bowl is the standard Ichiran ramen bowl and there is even the customization sheet for your ramen order in the top left corner. The table under the bowl is the dark woodwork you would find in the restaurant. |
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| Preparation directions, ingredients, and nutritional information. |
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| What you get in the box. You get two bundles of dried noodles. Two packets of liquid soup base, and two sachets of spicy red powder (the red sauce). |
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| Closeup of the corner with the restaurant order sheet. |
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| The noodles are stick ramen (dried noodles) and they are thin, like you would get in the restaurant. I put both sets of noodles in 900 ml of boiling water (450 ml per serving) and then boiled them for 2 minutes 30 seconds for a medium firmness. You can turn off the heat or take the soup off the heat to add both the liquid soup pouches to the noodles. Stir well. |
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| The noodles are ready to serve. I portioned out the two servings for equal amounts of noodles and broth. I added green onions for a garnish and to add some flavour and texture. |
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| The prepared noodles. You can see the liquid soup base has some oil and fats which you can see floating on the soup. This is partially where the creaminess and richness of the soup will come from. |
The Ichiran noodle preparation went like many stick ramen kits. Nothing too unusual. The liquid soup packets were larger than many soup bases found in other products I've tried. The broth smelled rich like a good tonkotsu and the soup had the classic tonkotsu boiled pork bone taste to it, but maybe not as pronounced as some. It was a pretty tasty soup with lots of umami and flavour to it. Definitely worth what I paid for, and it did resemble the flavour profile of what you would get in the restaurant from what I remember. I only added a little bit of the red sauce powder to my broth and it was more than enough to add plenty of heat for my tastes. Adding the entire sachet would have made the soup way too spicy. I recommend you add it in portions to your taste if you want something zippier, or just leave it out for a plain tonkotsu.
The noodles had a nice bite and chew to them - easily bitten through as they are thin, and you can scarf down the noodles quick. In my prepared bowls at home, I added some slicked up chicken karaage for the protein element and it went really well with the soup! I would definitely recommend buying some in Japan if you are there and you could certainly try it if you find it at an overseas supermarket, but it is going to be subjective as to value for money at $10/serving.
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| My final prepared bowl of ramen. |
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