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Concentrating on serving just Tonkutsu Ramen, Ichiran's priority lies in the safety and satisfaction of each and every customer. The mission of Ichiran is to deepen the flavour of every bowl of noodles served, each involving the work of over 40 specialists.

The Japanese are well-known for their high level of exquisiteness and at Ichiran, it was certainly heightened to the next level with the complicated techniques involved in the ramen-making process. What makes this bowl of ramen so special?


There are actually 8 elements which each contribute to the masterpiece bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. Essentially what Tonkotsu means in Japanese is pork bone so before we move on to exploring the taste and flavours, let us dwell upon the basics that Ichiran focus on in creating the perfect ramen.

1) Classic Tonkotsu Soup (Pork based broth)
After years of improvising, the cooking process of the broth had been split into two which focused on using special methods to remove the 'heavy' and appalling smell related to pork broth.

2) Ichiran's original red sauce
This would surely appeal to those who crave for a touch of spiciness in their ramen as Ichiran develops their own red-pepper based sauce which involved 30 types of spices, aged and cooked slowly for days and nights before being served to the customers.

3) Home-made fresh noodles
With an in-house unique blend of flour, the experienced chefs at Ichiran create their own version of noodles using special techniques to have that uniquely smooth texture.

4) Sliced pork (Optional)
The thinly sliced pork had been specially prepared and marinated to concentrate on the natural sweetness of the protein.

5) Green onion (Optional)
You have the choice of adding or omitting this from your ramen but these specially grown green onions offer freshness and quality. The fertilizer used in cultivating these green onions were recycled from the pork bones after they were used for producing the broth for the ramen. Organic and environmental friendly.

6) 0% trans fat
The natural oil used at Ichiran are self-produced and completely trans-fat free. They claim to be the first ramen company in the world to offer trans-fat free tonkotsu ramen.

7) Natural collagen
The broth is apparently rich in collagen which helps the body to gain flexibility and improve skin's complexion. Delicious and nutritious.

8) Ichiran's original water
The water served had been carefully selected for the preparation of products. The quality of the water is controlled through Ichiran's special system of pipes and purifiers and has the characteristics of bringing out all the flavour of the noodles making them firm and resistant to expanding once in the soup. It is also delicate and soft to the stomach and liver so feel free to drink more!

There is a tap available at table to allow free-flow of iced Ichiran original water!

Now that I had hopefully portrayed a better picture about what to expect, let us bask in that authentic Japanese ramen experience!


It was considered a short queue of about 30-40 minutes before we got a seat. Such a waiting time is considered good since it was reported that some people queued for 4 hours under the hot summer just to have a taste of that tonkotsu ramen! According to our friends residing in Japan, even the Ichiran restaurants there have similar queue times.



Expect the queue to continue inside the air-conditioned restaurant which was a relief from that blazing sun out there!




The free-flow iced Ichiran original water tap is located on the left corner of each table allowing easy access. You will be issued with an order chit upon walking into the restaurant and you would have the option to choose the density of broth, texture of noodles (limp or firm), level of spiciness (max level is 20 times at an additional charge of HK$10. Essentially, each and every bowl of ramen is customized to your preference. Once you are comfortably seated and ready to place your order, you could press the bell located on the top right hand of the table to get the attention of the service crew who would be humbly serving you.

In fact, I never got to see how the servers looked like though they politely greeted us in Japanese when we were ushered to our seats.

Are you as hungry as us yet? Serve up the noodles, please!


Tonkotsu Ramen (Standard bowl at HK$89/-, add-ons are charged separately)




My bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen came with add on of 10 times extra spicy but quite frankly the heat was not as strong as expected. The pork bone broth was intense as I opted for it to be served extra strong and it was savoury and rich. It was really fragrant and there was no hint of that appalling porky smell in the broth. The sliced pork was tender and succulent and cooked to perfection, maintaining a natural sweetness which was intended by the chefs. I also chose the finely sliced green onions which enhanced the aroma of the ramen as I drew up those bouncy hand-made noodles from the broth. Despite taking some time in the routine photo-taking, the noodles did not expand nor become limp as I selected mine to be firm. The texture was surprisingly smooth and the only complaint I had was that the serving might seem a little meagre for the gents.

There was a sign which explained the culture of enjoying the ramen at Ichiran where most customers would request for noodle refill which was termed kaedama. It is Hakata's unique way of enjoying more noodles in one ramen serving and the mantra is to leave at least half of the soup from the first serving to enjoy a refill of noodles. As ramen noodles are characterised for expanding in the soup as time passes due to their thinness and delicacy, the system of kaedama helps to solve this problem and allows the customer to better enjoy the texture and aroma of the ramen.



The second bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen ordered by the lady was slightly different as she went for the most standard bowl of noodles with different elements ticked to be of normal serving. The richness and savouriness of that broth overwhelmed any hint of heat, so if you enjoy your ramen to be spicy, you could surely go for at least 5 times extra spicy on the order chit.

We each ordered an half-boiled salted egg which came at HK$12/- each but it did not impress us. We also added the black fungus and seaweed which came at surcharge of HK$10/- each. We also had a separate serving of their home made vinegar which also came at HK10/-. Admittedly, we were not quite sure what to do with the vinegar - if we were to add it into the broth or as a dipping sauce. We added it into the broth but was unable to taste much difference in taste.


It was overall a really authentic experience starting with the ordering process right through to slurping up the last drop of that beautiful broth!

A light-hearted conversation over dinner somehow brought up the topic of the search for the best glutinous rice in town. Keung Kee was mentioned since we were in the vicinity of Wan Chai and we decided to head there after dinner for some supper takeaway!


Apparently this used to be a road side stall decades ago, and it was no surprise that the business is still doing well even till today. The fragrance of the glutinous rice lingered in the air with it being cooked on the stove as shown above.


Glutinous rice with plain Chinese sausages

The plain glutinous rice were sauteed and well cooked with a good stickiness. Well-coated with a layer of oil, probably owed to the fatty pork belly pieces among the generous ingredients, and the essentials from the sausages, it was sinfully good. The plain Chinese sausages were fragrant and had the right mix of lean and fatty meat. The continuous stirring by the server ensured that every rice grain received the sufficient amount of heat and moisture, for an even coating and uniform texture across. Some spring onions enhanced the fragrance with a light crunch and it was certainly mouth-watering to say the least.

Trying to find a remote area in Hong Kong with less crowd is as good as searching for an oasis in the Sahara. Even the seemingly far Yuen Long located at New Territories is busy and popular with diners on the hunt for a bargain meal. On the prowl for good food, the flashes of camera set caught my attention.


After moving to Hong Kong, this was my first time witnessing TVB filming, and what best to catch the filming of a food show! The rumbling stomachs coupled with curiosity on the filming process, we took our seats at the adjacent table inside this simple looking eatery.




It seemed incredibly difficult to taste fresh chicken in Hong Kong post bird flu era. To our surprise, their signature chicken congee did not disappoint. The chicken was tender and succulent, with a slight tinge of sweetness. The congee itself was very slushy, in a positive way, allowing you to just drink it down rather than swallowing. Our chicken congee was served while the filming process began, and the hosts were food tasting the same signature dish. Instantly, we grew increasingly skeptical about the authenticity of the contents of food show. Indeed, the chicken congee was flavoursome as suggested by the hosts, but the chicken meat portions were far from what was claimed. At about $50 per pot of congee, one would commonly expect more edible chicken meat, rather than it being filled more with bones. I would recommend trying this for the sake of the taste, though I would beckon when it comes to value for money.


Soy sauce fried noodles

When it came to fried noodles, the most critical element would fall on the 'wok hei', which required high heat for fragrance. Ideally, the food would be cooked in a seasoned wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly. For this very reason, cooking would usually be done over an open flame rather than over electric stoves. The so called flavour imparted from 'wok hei' was a result from caramelization, maillard reaction (which typically caused browning) and the partial combustion of oil that came from charring and searing of food at heat in excess of 200 degrees celsius.

This was one of their signature dishes, which was featured during the filming as well. The thermal radiation from the wok (commonly known as 'wok hei') was perfect for the dish, which helped to lock in the dark soy sauce and condiments used in the frying process. The noodles were slightly stiff, which went well with the fresh crunchy beansprouts to give a balanced texture with each mouthful. The noodles tasted savoury, owed in part to the dark soy sauce. The calories conscious might find this a guilty treat, as your lips would almost certainly be left gleaming with the excessive oil.

Always a fan of roasted pigeon, we hesitated due to limited stomach space. However when the filming crew dished this out as yet another signature dish, I felt the compelling urge to order a serving too. It certainly did not disappoint. The pigeon was prepared and left to stand and was only roasted with each placed order. The skin was very crispy, yet it did not dehydrate the meat of its juices. The meat was tender, succulent and savoury to say the least. Personally I felt it was tasty even on its own without the accompanying toasted salt.


Lime Juice

We ordered this as a quench-thirster and the flavours of the lime in this simple-looking drink was surprising. I was half expecting a highly saccharine lime syrup, but this tasted zesty and refreshing. After a greasy meal, this was much desired indeed to give a cleansed feel to the stomach.

The recent visit to Hong Kong was more than a vacation or an eating expedition. To us both, it meant a lot more, almost like a dream come true for it was my first visit to tmcy's homeland since we first got attached almost 3.5 years ago. Many events unfolded along the way which led to this much delayed visit, but as the saying goes, better late than never!

Upon returning to UK, we were pretty amazed at the amount of food we had tried in HK over the span of 12 days. All thanks to darling who bought a guide book and did tons of research online for best eats did we manage to try the fine culinary skills of authentic Cantonese cuisines and other local delicacies alike. We had shortlisted a selected bunch of eateries or restaurants worthy of our calories and definitely worth a second visit and will be publishing the reviews over the weeks to come. For returning visitors, do accept our apologies for the slow updates for it is the time of the academic year where all students loathe, EXAMINATIONS!


Spoilt for choice, we decided to consult the serving uncle for recommendations, only to be rebutted with 'Everything here is nice la!'. Right, obviously that did not help us much, so we went for the few top dishes recommended in the guide book!

Roast Meat (烧肉)

This was their signature dish and definitely a MUST-TRY.

(+) The sweet and sour sauce was of a prime balance in terms of flavours.
(+) The spare ribs omitted an ooze of juiciness upon each bite, though all bones were removed.

(-) The fried batter was simply not crispy enough, and this was not owed to the soaking gravy.



Stir-fried geoduck and celery with XO sauce (XO醬爆象拔蚌)

This was certainly one of the most divine dishes tried on my entire HK trip, particularly cos of my fondness for geoduck. It was my first time trying geoduck cooked in a typical Cantonese stir-fried style as opposed to the usual sashimi or dipped in tonic soup.


(+) The geoduck was cooked to perfection, maintaining a slight chewiness and did not taste too 'elastic'.
(+) A tinge of spiciness from the red peppers with fragrance from the minced dried peeled shrimps.
(+) The celery added a good crunch and varied mouthfeel, with a slight fresh sweetness.
(+) The gravy was perfect to go with the plain rice, and it was so good that we had to order an extra bowl!

(-) Might be a bit too spicy for people who cannot take the heat, otherwise it is definitely a MUST-TRY.


(+) Extremely crispy on the outside and the soft, bouncy-textured surimi on the inside was a great contrast.
(+) The surimi did not taste or smell overwhelmingly strong of the typical oppressive 'fishy' smell.
(+) Surimi inside was not the typical soft, 'lumpy' type, but rather firm and bouncy, like a good fishball!
(+) The mayonnaise provided was an unique blend, leaving a slight aftertaste of sweetness.
(+) Thankfully, being the final dish, it was not too greasy at all.

(-) If you are after a purely 'prawn-based' cake, then you might be slightly disappointed for the 'prawn flavour' was not distinctly strong.