I once heard from a fellow foodie that if you visit Tokyo and must eat Ramen then a visit to Ichiran is a must! I've actually heard of Ichiran quite some time ago, but I never had the chance to visit Japan. Before my trip to Hong Kong, I was able to look up this restaurant and luckily enough, there is now one open for business in Hong Kong. The Ichiran in Hong Kong is actually the first of their restaurants outside of Japan, so I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to try it out and see what all the buzz about the Ramen here is really about. So, let's wait no further and feast our eyes on this Japanese classic.

In Hong Kong, there are now two branches of Ichiran, one in Tong Lo Wan and the other in Tsim Sha Tsui. The first was opened in 2013, the other, 2015. Since I was going for a shopping trip in Tsim Sha Tsui, I thought I would take the opportunity to visit the newer branch at Tsim Sha Tsui.

The weather on this day was magnificent. This branch of Ichiran is situated opposite the new K11 Arts Shopping centre. Here are some pictures of the area. By now, you can tell that most pictures of Hong Kong will look some what similar - lots of high rise buildings and all very close together. However, this building is actually designed quite well and I like the unique look of it amongst the others surrounding it. It reminds me a bit of a Transformer.

The K11 Arts Shopping Center is nick named "The worlds first Arts Shopping Center".

The K11 Center is also one of my favourite shopping centre's in Hong Kong, combining arts and crafts with a plethora of shops.

In a followup post, I will take you on a tour of the K11 Shopping Center, for now, shift your eyes to the right side of the road.

You can see a big poster advertisement of Ichiran!


Let's go in and take a look!

The entrance has their signature red sign posts.

A walk down the stairs and we arrive at the main restaurant area. If you read my post about Dim Sum in Hong Kong, then you'll know that most restaurants in Hong Kong are usually in the basement whilst their entrance is on the ground floor.

The red colour advertisements and logo not only draw your attention, it's also something that leaves an easily recognisable impression.

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that the place was already full of guest diners. The waiters and waitresses definitely have their hands full!

The staff at the counter announced that the waiting time is around half an hour. She asked me where i'd like to sit to eat. I could choose from the area on the left, or on the right.

As you can see, the left was completely packed, so I said i'd like a table on the right.

Whilst we're waiting, let's take a look at some of the merchandise that they also sell.

There are many limited edition food boxes. This way, aside from enjoying their food at the restaurant, you can also take their taste home. Killing two birds with one stone is a great idea indeed.

My favourite Matcha Green Tea.

This trophy caught my attention. It turns out that Ichiran is the number one Ramen place in all of Japan. Of course, this made me even more excited to try the ramen.

This vacant seat board is really useful, it shows when seats become available. With so many guests waiting, it's a nice addition.

Behind me is the long queue of people.

Waiting.. and more waiting..

Ordering your ramen is super easy. You can choose the thickness of the soup, the greasiness, as well as the amount of condiments that are added to your soup. For instance, you can choose how much garlic and onion you'd like, as well as how much roast pork, and how spicy. You can even ask for even more noodle if one bowl isn't enough.

Finally, the Hakata Ramen has arrived, we opted for extra roasted seaweed.

And below is my ramen. I'm not good at eating spicy food so mine ramen is with just a pinch of spice. After eating the ramen, I have to say Ichiran's reputation for ramen is well deserved, not only is the soup base thick, the broth is full of flavour from being cooked overnight with pork bone. The noodles are stern but not under cooked and is just the right texture.

And that concludes our visit to the infamous Ichiran Ramen joint in Hong Kong, hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to follow to see more food blogs and many more!