Ippudo HK     一風堂  

Thanks to Ippudo and the communications team for organizing this tasting.

Ippudo Tsim Sha Tsui has a new style Ramen: 魚介 x 豬骨醬油拉麵. (Fish Soup x Pork Soup Ramen)

The difference between the normal Fish x Pork Bone versions served at some other places? The usual suspects use a Pork Bone base soup and then add in Dried Fish Powders. The version here is deliberately a LIGHTER VERSION, a current Tokyo trend - and it mixes a Fish Soup with Pork Bone. A W-Soup.

Cold Marinated Tomato -
The tomato was first peeled and then soaked with Ume solution (Young Apricot) to give it more fragrant flavour. Quite appertizing. ~ 7/10

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Last Thursday, I had the chance to visit Hakata Ippudo - one of the world's most famous ramen chain stores - here in Hong Kong (Causeway Bay). Having heard so many people rave about this restaurant and how they waited for over an hour just to get a table, I was curious to see what the hype was all about.Luckily by the time I went, around 9pm, dinner service was coming to a close - there was no waiting, meaning I was seated immediately. A huge relief, especially after hearing all those horror stories of endless waiting!To my surprise, the interior and decor was not as crammed as I thought. Coming here, I had the impression that it would be one of those ramen stores situated at the back of a Japanese alley with only 5-6 seats (if you've been to Japan, you know what I mean!). The interior was actually very spacious: table of different sizes in different corners of the restaurant. Moreover, the tables weren't so awkwardly close that your elbows were touching with the person next to you (which is a real luxury when it comes to packed-to-the-brim fast food stores!). Overall, a very pleasant and comfortable atmosphere.In terms of the menu, I thought that it had a good selection of main courses and side dishes. Main courses wise, there were 6 different types of ramen, as well as a cold selection. I personally thought that prices were quite reasonable (starting at HK$55 / US$7 / £4.5 / €5.7). While ramen has never been cheap, I think that given its location in Causeway Bay and the whole surrounding, I was willing to pay around $50-60 per bowl.I decided to go for the Ippudo Tonkotsu ramen. Within 10 minutes of ordering, my food had arrived. The soup base was rich and packed with flavour, while the pork was lean and tender. I felt that the balance was perfect because too often I find that soup bases are not thick enough, causing it to lack flavour. So because the soup base was so rich, I could taste its flavour throughout the noodles and pork. However, my only criticism is that it didn't have enough pork. By the time I had finished the two slices, there was still lots of noodles left to eat!

Prior to ordering, the waitress had also asked whether I preferred my noodles soft or hard. I asked for my noodles to be softer and when it arrived, it was indeed soft - but not to the point it didn't have a bite to it.I also brought along my mother, who ordered the Miso Tonkotsu ramen. She personally thought that the soup base was too rich and that the sesame oil/soya sauce was too overpowering for her taste. The portion was also slightly too small for her. I agree that the portion is not the biggest; so while it may be sufficient for a quick lunch, it would be best to order some side dishes to compliment your main course when it comes to dinner. However, she did enjoy the noodles as it had the right chewiness.Overall, I had a very positive experience. While I certainly had high expectations for this restaurant, there is still room for improvement but it didn't disappoint. I would definitely revisit and recommend to others.

After cutting my hair at Harbour City, I was wondering around for lunch, and remembered there was this ramen I wanted to try for a while, at 1:50pm, I was seated inside without any waiting.

And it was getting quite empty after lunch time.

been hearing news about how good this place is and how many people line up, so decided to try with friends.
waited for about 45 minutes. had quite high expectations.. unfortunately, EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED.
would never come again because it's just simply NOT good. total waste of time and money. and one bowl of noodles isn't even filling at all.. i'd rather to go Butao or Daruma.. at least i actually feel very full from having their noodles, not to mention it actually tastes good. i can get much better quality and quantity elsewhere.

First of all, I think it's probably unfair to try and compare the ramen in Hong Kong to the ramen in Japan so take the review with a grain of salt.

I think the ramen here is not bad, obviously better than the regular chains but I don't think it's worth the tremendous wait. I thought the ramen was okay, not my favorite kind of ramen but good if you like the yellow thinner noodles.

The soup was kind of msg-y so although it was good, it left you that "my throat feels like it's the Sahara" feeling.

Overall, pretty good fix if you're hankering for ramen but I wouldn't wait 45 minutes for it.

I was excited to try Ippudo after all the hype; I was even more excited once I started looking at the menu; and I was even MORE excited when I got my food!

I've tried the ippudo in NY, and the one here is even better I think and reminds me even more of the types of ramen I like in Japan. Broth is creamy and flavorful; noodles can be customized (I like it extra hard, just like ichiran in japan). Remember to order an extra serving of noodles for the leftover broth. Get a spring egg topping if your ramen doesn't come with an egg - delicious! The chashuu buns are amazing - very fresh, soft and tasty.

The line looked long, but I was dining alone so got a counter seat right away at 8PM on a weekday.

Highly recommend!

Ever since Ippudo opened I have always wanted to try it because I like the thin Hakata style noodles.

I tried to go to the CWB branch but it was packed, there is not much waiting space outside.
The waiting space is just the lobby area when you come out from the elevators.
The reservation/registration system at CWB is slightly different, you can use their touchscreen system to enter the number of people and get notified via mobile.Anyway, with the new crowd at Butao in CWB and Ippudo, I decided to go to the TST branch.
I went just before dinner so I did not have to queue.

Similar to Hide-Chan there were more items on offer and drinks too, however there are service charges as well.
I wanted to try the Wasabi Tonkatsu but this was only available at CWB according to their FB page.
After browsing the menu, I realised that some were Hakata noodles and some were the thicker type noodles.
I also wanted to try the Deep-fried Squid Tentacles with Seaweed Flavour but I only found out about it after I had dined there.

Sunday solitude

Been wanting to try ippudo since its grand opening, but I have long been discouraged because of the ultra long queue. Finally, on a Sunday, I decided to go on my own at around 2:30pm to try my luck and avoid the long queue. Lots of people were waiting despite it was after the normal lunch-time rush; but my wait was luckily relatively short due to going 'single'.
Ordered a glass of Asahi - served in a very, very chilled glass which was definitely a nice touch and peaked the 'Asahi' experience Carefully studied the menu and various reviews before and I had decided to order 赤丸 before I was seated. It was heavenly - served pipping hot, tasted just right (not too strong or too weak), superb ramen texture... and now now now, after a few sips of the soup and a few mouthful of the ramen, the super chilled Asahi.

'AHHHHHhhhhhhh..........'


enough said

Having said that, I have to confess that I could see how some people may find the soup base slightly oily. There was a layer of oil with 'fat-like' jelly floating. For me, it was totally acceptable and the soup base was just so memorable; but that might not work for everyone.Of course, being an egg lover, I ordered the very good soft-boiled egg... again, totally up to and beyond expectations.



Ippudo definitely deserves a visit!

For those as desperate as I was (and wanting to avoid crazy queues), go solo ;)

~~ make the most out of your solitary moment ~~

I am a big fan of Ippudo in Japan and so today went to eat Ramen at Tsim Sha Tsui. I found a few differences of Ramens between HK and Japan. First and biggest is that there are few condiments on the table. I expect there be at least hot bean sprout, takana, and garlic. However, there is only sesame on the table. Second, half-boiled egg is just half-boiled egg. I mean it should be the one that boiled inside a soup and a little bit salty. Finally, I feel short on the taste of its soup. As other Ramen restaurants in HK, such as Ajisen(味千), Ippudo obviously arranged its product to the place of HK. As a result, unfortunately, although there are a lot of commons between Ramens, you should not expect that you can enjoy Japan's Ippudo's taste at Tsim Sha Tsui.

I went in the late afternoon to avoid the ridiculous queues found in the evening. Having finally got a seat and tasted their Ramen, I can honestly say that it tasted ... just like a bowl of Ramen.

Not really sure what all the fuss is about really. I think other Ramen shops dotted around Hong Kong and other places in the world could offer the same dishes.

Definitely worth a try, but unless I really, really want Ramen in TST and there isn't anything else to eat in the Silvercord tower, I think I'll give this place a miss from now on.

it opens at 1130am but already lots of ppl queue up b4 opening!

ordered 赤丸新味--> abit spicy but it tastes good, the soup base has not much MSG coz i dun feel thirsty and it's not sticky when compared with other places...also it's not oily~ by the way it added 木耳 & 蔥as well~ it has 2 slices of pork but a bit fatty, the noodles is quite gd, quite chewy, not too soft

chicken wings--> too small, not enough haha, but it's freshly fried and there's lots of 明太子 inside, ~

cha siu bao--> small portion as well, but it's fresh, it has some salad dressing and vegetable inside , the bread is soft~

half heated egg--> well it's 流 心 but not hot enough, $8 is not worth~

won't go again lu~

Late lunch.
Very simple menu, only three kind of soup bases to choose. We choose a red bowl.
First thing to taste is the soup before stir it. Very nice with a good taste of pork bone. Then, mix all ingredents and that red paste on top, taste much more complicate but then it start to taste too salty..
Noodle was fine with good texture. Not so soft. The porkchop is excellent though. Soft and juicy, taste absolutly right.
More filling than it looks. Can't order other things.
The atmosphere is fine but very noisy while all the staffs yelling their half Japanese half Cantonese whenever customers come and go. That's a bit annoying. It will be better if they only assign a few staffs to do that..
I dun mind to go there again but I will not choose that restaurant if friends need a suggestion. Nothing much special and with that price, I expect something better.
I think they are waiting for their license for selling alcohol coz there is the bar area that not open yet. Well, wait and see if they have some good things there..