I’m sure most homesick Japanese or Ramen lovers would love this place. Several variations plus all the add ons like extra meat, egg etc which you need to do if you are hungry as the portion is a bit meagre especially for the US. Tasty...and good service make this a worthwhile visit. Others seem to think so as the place was buzzing when we dined. The gyoza are good but small & the karage are great.More
Ikkousha is from Hakata, which is Fukuoka if you are not familiar with the interchangeable names. The style from this Kyushu capital is Tonkotsu, which is pork broth based thin strand ramen. Ikkousha has its fan and they deliver a very authentic version with other...variations to choose from such as adding black garlic oil, or adding mentaiko(marinated fish roe). I personally think they deliver the best fry chicken from any Ramenya, the miniature gyoza is pretty decent as well.More
This is head to head with Ippudo which is only available on the East coast for now. Both are from Hakata Japan. I give credit that they both kept the taste the same as in Japan. Nothing fancy, good broth and good noddle. The water...serviced there tasted good. Many restaurant waters are just tapped water but I think this was not. An important thing to have great tasting broth. Would come here again if in the neighborhood. A bit too far for a Bay area person to come on regular basis. Thus a two star.More
Been here couple of times. Combined, we had regular tonkotsu (twice), God Fire (I think level 2), and black tonkotsu (twice). And also fried rice and fried chicken. Each time we usually get the $4 topping set. First time we waited for 10-15 minutes, second...time was Saturday around 11:45am and no wait at all. We didn’t have any problem finding parking but there is a valet parking right outside (within the same parking lot). Restaurant is pretty small. First of all, the soup base is very good, especially the black tonkotsu. It is different and has a certain texture when you drink it. Really like the flavor a lot, highly recommend. Fried chicken is $7 for only 2 pieces but they are 2 large pieces. They were tender and juicy. Arguably one of the best thing about them is the available red ginger, pickled veggie, mashed garlic, sesame grinder all on the table. Most of ramen restaurants don’t have them on the table. I add them to my ramen (except sesame) to add extra flavor. I thought the fried rice itself was so-so. However, when I add red ginger and pickled veggie it was much better (I wouldn’t order this myself but the wifey did). The other good thing is they give you a stamp card. Our second trip we got a free extra noodle. Speaking of noodle, that is one thing preventing me to give a 5-star. They have thin noodles. I personally prefer thicker ramen noodles; I don’t think there is a choice of noodles. Will be back.More
If you like Tonkatsu ramen, you'd enjoy this place. Black Tonkatsu (sesame) adds a great flavor. Mentaiko Tonkatsu is a little spicy and a great match to the soup. Lots of sides on the table, ground white sesame, ginger, fresh garlic, pickled vegetables, etc. will...for sure come back again.More
Keep forgetting that asian restaurants don't really do customer service (think a Vietnamese pho place), but the ramen more then made up for it. Got the God Fire, lvl 2 and it was super flavorful and it was quite a portion. Almost didn't finish it,...but it was so good, I had to finish it. Great place and will be coming back for more.More