Before going to the Arome Bakery Room Tasting event, I had to eat some food before eating sweet food so I dined here because it was right next to ABR.I ordered the Wasabi tonkatsu. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★Wasabi tonkatsu:The noodles were rather disappointing this time because the broth was bland and it did not have the initial impact that the wasabi gave me on my first visit. The wasabi was so weak this time that it did not give a stinging sensation to my throat. Last time I could smell wasabi fr
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Before going to the Arome Bakery Room Tasting event, I had to eat some food before eating sweet food so I dined here because it was right next to ABR.
The noodles were rather disappointing this time because the broth was bland and it did not have the initial impact that the wasabi gave me on my first visit. The wasabi was so weak this time that it did not give a stinging sensation to my throat. Last time I could smell wasabi from the soup and this time I could not.
Last time I had the pickled ginger and loved it but there were no photos, so here is a photo of the pickled ginger. The pickled ginger was still consistently good and tasted salty and sour. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★ Opening photos thanks to IVYCWK: Since IVYCWK knew I was going to eat at Ippudo before the Arome Bakery Room tasting event, she passed me these photos to post on my review.
题外话/补充资料：
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[b]Price:[/b] $1xx
[b]Service:[/b] OK
[b]Service charge:[/b] OK
[b]Yummy factor:[/b] Could be better
[b]Glass of water provided:[/b] Yes
[b]English Menu:[/b] Yes
[b]Air Conditioning:[/b] Freezing
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One of my friends has been raving about this place. I thought that it was time to come here and give it a try. Noodles are one of my absolute favourite foods, so I was very much looking forward to this lunch. Lets just say that I was not disappointed. We were greeted by a nice waiter, who politely asked us how many of us were dining. We were then lead to our table and allowed to peruse the menu. The overall atmosphere of the place is very warm. There is sufficient lighting which is perfect for u
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One of my friends has been raving about this place. I thought that it was time to come here and give it a try. Noodles are one of my absolute favourite foods, so I was very much looking forward to this lunch. Lets just say that I was not disappointed. We were greeted by a nice waiter, who politely asked us how many of us were dining. We were then lead to our table and allowed to peruse the menu. The overall atmosphere of the place is very warm. There is sufficient lighting which is perfect for us reviewers to take good photos. I especially liked how the place felt very packed, yet spacious at the same time. Meaning that the restaurant was very full, and the place was operating at full capacity, but it does not feel cramped at all. We then proceeded to glance over the menu.
I think a menu plays a vital part to a restaurants success. I would give this menu special mention. First of all it has very good photos for all of its main noodle dishes. The layout is easy to follow, and the colour scheme is not distracting. Each item of food is accompanied with a well detailed account of the dish. This I believe is excellent because it really allows you to thoroughly decided what you want to eat. The descriptions are tailored to make you hungry and this is very good. They also offer a special seasonal menu, which also caught my eye in terms of its construction and appeal.
After perusing the menu, we ordered our food. The waiter who took our order was very friendly and gave us additional comments about which dish he recommended. For example he explained to us that we could add an extra egg if we wanted at an additional cost. Moreover, he even explained that we could specify how we wanted our noodles to be cooked. They could be softer, normal, or even harder, which I thought was very thoughtful of him to provide us with these options to make our meal more pleasant. We placed our orders and about 10 minutes later the first bowl of hot noodles arrived. The waiter announced the dish very quickly in a mumbled tone, and we did not comprehend what he was saying. He then repeated himself, but we still did not know which dish he was referring to. We then proceeded to open the menu and asked him to point to which one it was. He did, but as he placed the bowl down, he rolled his eyes. I thought that this was very unprofessional and immediately left me with a very sour impression of the restaurant. However, the smell of the noodles quickly changed my opinion.
This was the most expensive noodle on the menu and rightly so. It comes with an egg that is raw on the inside, seaweed, sliced pork and spring onions. The dish was served piping hot, which is always a good sign. I wished that they shredded the seaweed so that I could have spread it throughout the soup. The egg was cooked beautifully and when I broke the egg white the yolk came streaming out in a never ending river of rich goodness. I ordered the noodles to be cooked normally and they were very tender and delicious. The meat was good and very lean. My friend thought the soup was very good, but personally I found the seasoning a bit overdone. It was very hot and full of flavour though.
This was a more simple noodle. The noodles are very thin and it is served with lean slices of pork. My friend especially liked the fresh soybean sprouts and spring onions. She ordered the noodles to be cooked normally too, and found them to very smooth. The soup was hot and had less flavour than the previous dish. The amount of noodles is very filling. You can also order extra noodles at an additional costs if you are still hungry.
This dish was the special dish of the month. It looked very appealing from the menu. This time the noodles were very thick. The were much more chewy than the other ones and had a nice texture to them too. There is a very heavy miso flavour to the soup that is served on the side. The noodles come with minced pork and a spicy sauce. My friend asked if they could not add the spicy sauce to the noodles directly, and they happily complied and put the sauce on the side in a separate bowl. The concept of this dish is that you mix a little bit of the soup and the spicy sauce with the noodles and minced pork to get a very special combination and flavour. The menu says "Every delicious mouthful of the unique flavoured Spicy Tsukemen brings your taste buds a whole new experience that you'll never forget." I would have to agree with this wholeheartedly. This dish is a must try, and my friend has already said she will come back for more and more. The only complaint was that the soup was not as hot as it should have been.
Overall, a great lunch. The only disappointment was the very rude waiter. However, this was remedied by a very friendly waiter who kept checking on us, and asking how we were finding everything. We greatly appreciated this. Moreover, this waiter found my water bottle which I had accidentally left on the table and ran out to find me after I had left the restaurant. This is what I call good service. I was internally grateful. I will definitely be coming back very soon to try the many other noodle dishes this fine establishment has to offer.
题外话/补充资料：
This restaurant gets very busy from 12:00-13:30 as this is peak lunch hour rush in Admiralty. However, if you come before 11:50, you will definitely have a seat. I would suggest coming earlier (if you are not working) as the table wait time during lunch hour can be up to 45 minutes.
博多系拉麵湯底質素穩定。性價比似乎是眾拉麵之冠!赤丸新味= 豚骨+醬油+鰹魚+辣味噌。Good quality Hakata ramen;Authentic;.Consistent; Very good service;Possibly the best value for money.>>>>>>OT on Sunday. Luckily, Ippudo has opened. That's a significant motivation to go to work!Booking machine: This time I've finally figure out how to operate the machine1) Press the number of guests (2) Choose whether you need telephone notification (v. good by the way) (3) Collect the ticket!(4) Wait.Got in after 5 minutes wai
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博多系拉麵 湯底質素穩定。 性價比似乎是眾拉麵之冠! 赤丸新味= 豚骨+醬油+鰹魚+辣味噌。
Good quality Hakata ramen; Authentic;. Consistent; Very good service; Possibly the best value for money.
OT on Sunday. Luckily, Ippudo has opened. That's a significant motivation to go to work!
Booking machine:
This time I've finally figure out how to operate the machine:
(1) Press the number of guests (2) Choose whether you need telephone notification (v. good by the way) (3) Collect the ticket! (4) Wait.
Got in after 5 minutes wait.To be honest with you, I didn't expect there to be so many customers on a Sunday at Admiralty!
Decor:
Nice & clean. Similar style with other Ippudo branches but much smaller than the CWB & TST branch. Just about 1/3 the size of the CWB branch. Anyway, the seats were placed relatively apart.
Great service:
Even if I was allocated a seat on the large wooden table, the sensitive waiter gave me a corner seat of the table, instead of just lumping me next to another customer. I could see they try to make a effort in making customers as comfortable as space allows.
I also noticed the waiters/waitress pouring water, taking orders when kneeling down (which I find odd in a Hong Kong setting but it's a Japanese thing) and also willingly offer to help customers fetch chopsticks and napkins if it's a bit further away from them.
Orders:
I had a look at the menu, which consisted of a number of relatively new additions (since the last time I went, which was about 1 year ago): Normal White Maru, Red Maru, New Red Maru, Wasabi Tonkotsu, Spicy Tonkotsu, Tsukemen and Hiyashi Chuka (only available during summer).
This time I thought for a while. I was in two minds (three) on whether to choose Wasabi Tonkotsu, New Akamaru or Spicy Tonkotsu. Eventually, I figure I'll revisit the New Akamaru to refresh my impressions of Ippudo. Also, since I just had a Karamiso ramen at "Nagahama No.1" I would like to compare the two.
I ordered a glass of Calpis $18 (a yogurt drink very popular in Japan) to cool down just in case my spicy ramen becomes too hot.
Very good first taste, strong pork bone broth with a lot of collagen. One of the thicker tonkotsu broth in town - it seemed to be a bit thicker than ButaO but ButaO has a more pronounced pork taste.
Ippudo's is still strong, just like what a bowl of authentic Hakata ramen should be. Here, it's a bit more complex and deep. I believe the shoyu used here is a bit darker than those used at ButaO. The shoyu aftertaste was quite strong.
Furthermore, there is also a slight hint of bonito! Not as strong as menya Musashi but significant enough for me to detect it.
(I've confirmed that after I purchased Instant Ippudo Shiro Maru and Aka Maru from Narita Airport after our visit to Japan amidst the anti-Japanese/Chinese demonstration weeks ago. There is no bonito in the Aka Maru (Original taste) but there is bonito in the Aka Maru. The New Aka Maru has a lot more bonito than Aka Maru.)
My New Aka Maru had just half a teaspoon of Kara miso (more like tou ban chan). It's not spicy for me at all. I think the karamiso at Nagahama is much better.
Again, I had to put chili oil. The chili oil provided tasted a bit sharper than the normal S&B version. It's had a slight similarity with the kara miso which they used. I believe their kara miso was made of tobanchang, tonkarashi powder and this spicy oil.
Noodles:
I ordered extra hard still it wasn't hard enough. (Just harder than David Ramen and similar to the "medium" noodle at Nagahama.) I think Tatsuya is a lot better. Even the medium version was harder than the hard version here. Nagahama's noodle was also a little bit better than Ippudo. However, it's still better than David ramen.
Kuraage: Very good crunchy had taste. Very good . Better than ButaO and Nagahama.
Spring onions: pretty fresh. But not too strong. Marutama is better. It's more sharp there.
Egg: A slight disappointment. Not fluid. Just a bit of egg taste. They had another option available - onsen tamago. I initially thought that onsen tamago would be too messy for ramen but on hindsight, this might be better.
Char Siu: They seemed to have changed their char siu slightly (using a different part of the pig perhaps? Nearer to the belly) instead of the thinner version I tried at CWB, it's slightly thick cut here. It had a nice aromatic meat taste. Not super tender but I'm stil happy with it. Some may find it fat though. It's better than Nagahama No.1 and Tatsuya. It's a different style from Buta O.
As far is char siu is concerned, ButaO's seems better. Hin Shou at Jordan also serves very good char siu.
Price:
Basic noodle at about $56. Mine was $6X. Very reasonable for the quality . Possibly the best value for money amongst ramen shops!
Conclusion:
- Decent environment; - Very professional and polite service; - Reasonable price; - Consistent Hakata broth and noodles.
With quality restaurants at reasonable price swooping into Admiralty, alarm bells, in fact, cathedral bells, should start ringing for other restaurants in the area!
Time to provided better food at better price!
P.S.: Finally had a proper look at Hakata Ippudo's logo. Actually it is a Raijin (God of Thunder) and a Fujin (God of Wind) sending ramen to earthly subjects!
题外话/补充资料：
According to wiki, Admiralty used to be the location of British Military Docks. The Chinese name, "Golden Bell", refers to the bell at the docks.
The link below is to a very powerful song. The melody is from a Korean folk song about fishermen celebrating their good catch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTROVyd-wUE&feature=related
This is a great new choice for lunch in Admiralty. The only drawback is the crowds - waiting time can be up to 45 minutes even if you arrive early (e.g. on the dot at noon, which substantially decreases the waiting time at most other places). However, food is served super fast so you can finish your meal in less than 20-30 minutes.* Akamaru (赤丸) Ramen $78 - The noodles here are perfectly cooked, even more so than I may say the TST branch where I am a regular. The soup is hearty without not being
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This is a great new choice for lunch in Admiralty. The only drawback is the crowds - waiting time can be up to 45 minutes even if you arrive early (e.g. on the dot at noon, which substantially decreases the waiting time at most other places). However, food is served super fast so you can finish your meal in less than 20-30 minutes.
* Akamaru (赤丸) Ramen $78 - The noodles here are perfectly cooked, even more so than I may say the TST branch where I am a regular. The soup is hearty without not being too oily or salty - extremely drinkable! It's extremely flavourful and well complemented by the condiments available including pickled ginger, grated roasted sesame seeds. The noodles also comes with two slices of rather fatty and tender pork which are also well seasoned. The portion of the pork I think is just right - more would be heart stopping
* Soft-cooked egg (半数蛋) $10 - This is very well seasoned - my yolk was very slightly overcooked. The egg comes warm which is great. The one in TST comes cold so I have to leave it in the hot soup until pretty much I have nearly finished the noodles to warm it up.
There are a number of other condiments you can add at additional cost, including Onsen Tamago ($10), pork neck, pork loin, roasted seaweed, etc. etc.
Ambience is nice - not too noisy despite the crowds - and service is prompt and efficient, cheerful without being intrusive.
Found out about this new branch of Ippudo while going to Arome Bakery Room.Previously just tried the noodles at Ippudo in TST. The items offered at different branches seem to be slightly different.At this branch they had the Wasabi broth noodles which was not available at the TST branch so I tried that and I also tried the grilled gyozas and grilled tofu.The music and air conditioning at this branch was of slight nuisance.★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★Wasabi tonkatsuThey did not have this at the TST br
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Found out about this new branch of Ippudo while going to Arome Bakery Room.
Previously just tried the noodles at Ippudo in TST. The items offered at different branches seem to be slightly different.
At this branch they had the Wasabi broth noodles which was not available at the TST branch so I tried that and I also tried the grilled gyozas and grilled tofu.
They did not have this at the TST branch so tried it here, the wasabi in the soup was really strong and surprisingly it tasted really nice and the broth was quite thick as well. Compared to the product pictures, they could have been more generous with the wasabi leaves and spring onions. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★ Grilled gyozas
The gyozas were grilled just right and the skin was slighty crispy with juicy grounded meat inside. Although they were nice, I felt that the gyozas at Hide Chan are better and the sauce that came with it was nicer too. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★ Grilled tofu with yam and cheese
Initially the dish looked really heavy but it tasted quite nice, the yam was very viscous and slimy and went well with the tofu, however the cheese was slightly over grilled. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★ Picked ginger - condiments
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I ordered the Wasabi tonkatsu. 
The noodles were rather disappointing this time because the broth was bland and it did not have the initial impact that the wasabi gave me on my first visit. The wasabi was so weak this time that it did not give a stinging sensation to my throat. Last time I could smell wasabi from the soup and this time I could not.
I was quite hungry so ordered more noodles.
Last time I had the pickled ginger and loved it but there were no photos, so here is a photo of the pickled ginger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
