ICHIRAN Tsim Sha Tsui review: a taste of Japan in Hong Kong
To be honest, my Hong Kong trip wasn’t completely satisfying food-wise,
and the reason was simple: the food ^_
It wasn’t about spices or anything like that,
but dishes like wonton noodles, egg noodles, and dim sum
started to feel heavy and greasy even after just one meal,
and I kept craving kimchi, which I don’t even eat that often at home.
Then my husband found a little ray of light..!
One of our all-time favorites,
ICHIRAN ramen, was actually in Hong Kong.
There are two branches in Hong Kong, one in Tsim Sha Tsui and one in Causeway Bay,
and we headed to the Tsim Sha Tsui location.
If you’re looking for a Tsim Sha Tsui ramen spot, this one is hard to beat.
ICHIRAN Tsim Sha Tsui
It’s not far from Tsim Sha Tsui Station,
and the hours are 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day.
We followed the map there and ended up walking through
a slightly creepy, damp back alley,,
and honestly, I think I would’ve been a little scared alone.
But can you see that huge ICHIRAN sign at the end..?!
Who knew an overseas chain restaurant
could feel this comforting?
ICHIRAN is in the basement, and on the ground floor
there’s Eric Kayser, the bakery brand
that pulled out of Korea a few years ago.
Unlike in Japan, they have open table seating here too,
not just the library-style solo booths, which I thought was kind of fun.~
My husband was excited too, so of course—click~
I’d heard there’s usually a line,
but maybe because we went later in the evening,
it was quiet and not crowded at all.
Once inside, there was a kiosk just like in Japan,
and they were even selling ICHIRAN merch,
but instead of ordering there, we were taken straight to our seats.
It was way, way bigger than I expected,
almost maze-like inside this ICHIRAN ramen spot in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
It honestly felt like Japan, not Hong Kong, haha.
There were so many booth sections too.
Ah, this familiar table setup,,
If you’re going with a group, the regular open tables would probably be fine,
but since it was just the two of us,
and we both love that private study-booth vibe,
we picked a booth without even thinking twice!
Even the little details were the same,
like the bag hook under the table and the shared tissues on the wall.
Here’s the menu posted on the wall by the seat!
If there was one major difference from Japan,
it was the ramen price..!
A basic bowl of ramen was HK$98,
which is about 17,400 KRW, or roughly $12 to $13 USD.
In Japan, a bowl is usually around 8,500 KRW,
so of course it’s going to cost more overseas,
but still—double the price, ouch.
Also, they didn’t have draft beer, only bottled Asahi.
How to order: there’s a round
QR code next to your seat number,
and you scan it and order right from your phone at the table.
Once you scan the QR code, this screen comes up.
There wasn’t a separate Korean version,
so I just used my mobile browser’s auto-translate feature.
You add your ramen and any toppings you want
to the cart, then customize the flavor preferences.
Payment happens on the next screen,
where you enter your card details and pay online.
A little later, my precious tonkotsu ramen arrived,,
and the funny thing was that the staff spoke in Japanese,
not Chinese or English.
When they opened the little panel in front of the seat to serve the food,
they even said “Shitsureishimasu~,” just like in Japan._
Since my stomach had been feeling kind of queasy,
I was honestly worried that a pork-broth ramen
might feel even heavier.
But it ended up feeling as comforting and clean
as a bowl of kimchi jjigae.
I set the spicy sauce to level 6,
and sniffled my way through it because it was that good.
The chashu was tender and delicious too, as expected,,
but one thing surprised me:
in Japan, I’ve never really finished almost all the noodles,
but at the Hong Kong branch, I ate nearly the whole bowl.
Maybe the portion here is a little smaller,
or maybe I’ve just started eating more,
so take that part with a grain of salt.
My husband is actually great with Hong Kong food,
and he only came for ramen because of me,
but somehow he enjoyed it even more than I did. Haha.
The restroom was clean too.
I really wish they’d open one in Korea again,,
I’m not even asking for one in my neighborhood—
just give us one in Gangnam, please, ICHIRAN!!
After eating here, I think it was two days later,,
I tried to come back again for lunch,
but the line looked like this, so I just turned around.
I mean, the place is huge,
and people were still lined up all the way out past the stairs..!!??
If ICHIRAN ever opens in Korea again,
it would probably be exactly the same.
Anyway,, if you’re like me and find Hong Kong food
a little too rich or greasy after a while,
make a stop at ICHIRAN in between meals and reset your stomach before continuing your trip. Seriously.