374 Johnson Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Rating: 
Located in a fairly sketchy part of Brooklyn, Ichiran serves up traditional tonkotsu ramen to the masses. Known for their solo-seat flavor concentration booths, Ichiran focuses on their pork-based broth to enrich the souls of their visitors. As you enter the restaurant, you will see a light-up board with all of the available seating at the booths. The hostess quickly provided us with two available booths, so we took a seat there. When we arrived, a server from the back provided us with water as we reviewed the ordering menu that was at each of our booths.
Ichiran offers a set meal that includes the ramen, ramen refill (kae dama), egg, and dessert. We decided to order one of the set meals, and then also order a ramen, ramen refill, and egg. I opted for a medium rich stock with a full clove of garlic without scallions with pork with some spicy sauce and with soft noodles. The tonkotsu egg arrived first cut in half in a bowl. The egg was cooked perfectly and you can taste the pork broth infused in the egg itself. The ramen was amazing. The stock was so delicious and rich I wanted to keep drinking it, but I had to save the stock for the ramen refill. The pork was savory, tender, and delicious. The spicy sauce took away from the pork flavoring a bit, but added a small kick. The noodles themselves tasted fresh and had a perfect texture. It was not long before I had to request for my ramen refill. I placed the metal refill trigger onto the sensor, and the server brought over the refill of ramen. We also ordered an additional order of pork to go with the refill as well, and that tasted equally as delicious as our original pork slices. Even with the refill, I finished the entire bowl of noodles including the soup. At this time, we decided to order the desert that came with the set menu by placing the metal plate on the sensor as well. The server brought over the green tea pudding, which tasted quite refreshing after eating the rich ramen. I was not a huge fan of the dessert, but it did go well with the meal.
Overall, Ichiran really knows how to cook Tonkotsu ramen to perfection. Their flavor concentration booths are very nifty and the servers behind the curtain are on point. The ramen and broth tasted amazing and was worth every penny. Prices here are quite high at $71 for just the two of us, but it is well worth it. Ichiran is a no tipping establishment, so you can expect the prices to be higher to accommodate. I just wish they would bring a location to the west coast. If you are in the New York area, you must give Ichiran a try.
Recent Comments