If you find yourself wandering around the Ikebukuro / Toshima City area and have an grumbling stomach, there are, of course, no shortage of options to be had in this busy area. I was craving a nice bowl of tonkatsu ramen though, so I was glad I knew exactly what I was looking for and not wandering around having a difficult time choosing what to eat. It was under these hungry cicumstances that I came across Ikkakuya.

Ikkakuya

Ikkakuya is a large nationwide ramen chain. Known for their tonkatsu ramen, Ikkakuya also offers a variety of different types of bowls with various toppings you can choose from. The location I went to had the automated ordering machine in the front which you order from. Luckily, there was an English button you could select and easily create your order with. Those machines, common in Japan for ramen shops, can be a little intimidating if there’s a long line and no English options, so when there’s an option for English, it’s always a very welcome sight!

The Ordering Experience

I opted for the Max ( I mean it’s the No.1 option per this billboard!) which was 1310 yen, $8.30 USD. This bowl of tonkatsu ramen included three pieces of chashu, six pieces of seaweed, and a flavored egg. On top of that I also got a ground pork rice bowl for 350 yen ($2.22 USD) as a side dish.

The restaurant is very tiny, like many ramen restaurants. It was just a narrow countertop facing the kitchen with stools. I came at a weird time, a little bit before 5pm so (fortunately) it was not very busy.

I handed a cook my ticket from the ordering machine and boom the bowl of tonkatsu ramen and ground pork bowl came out within 5-10 minutes. It was extremely fast, which I was grateful for since I was starving!

The Food Experience

I loved the presentation of the tonkatsu ramen bowl with the pieces of seaweed lining the bowl like shown above. That’s the first thing I noticed. The chashu looked like it had a nice little char on it so I was looking forward to giving it a try. The broth also looked quite oily at first glance and noodles looked fairly thicker for ramen noodles.

The first thing I always do with a fresh bowl of ramen is to give the broth, without any additioinal spices I generally toss in there, a taste.

The broth was very rich and savory. It had a deep, porky flavor to it. Definitley a little oily and salty as well.

This was a very thin chashu, it did have a nice little char to it and was very tender. It was quite salty as well. The chashu wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t the best either. The saltiness of it stood out, which isn’t the best attribute you want to stand out.

The noodles were definitely a bit thicker that what I’d seen at other ramen spots, not necessarily a bad thing as the noodles were al dente and tasted fresh.

The egg was nice and creamy and as usual at Japanese tonkatsu ramen shops quite tasty.

In addition to the tonkatsu ramen, I also got a ground pork bowl as a side. I wasn’t entirely sure what the the pork was mixed in with. It looked like it was some chili oil sauce but there was no spice at all. This was also pretty salty. It was decent, but nothing to write home about.

Final Thoughts

If I doled out ratings for food on a 1-10 scale, I’d give Ikkakuya a solid 6. It’s not a place that really stood out for the better or worse. The bowl of tonkatsu ramen was huge, so you definitely get your money worth for the price (1310 yen, $8.30 USD). The noodles were really good but the chashu was a little thin and overly salty for my taste as well as the broth. The pork bowl was, again, solid but didn’t really stand out in any way either. It was a nice complement with the ramen but it was also a little salty. I’d probably just get a regular side of rice to eat with the ramen if I were to swing by Ikkakuya again.

If you’re looking for some fast and efficient tonkatsu ramen, Ikkakuya is a good choice. It’s pretty good but not a place you should go out of your way to try and get!