I once heard from a fellow foodie that if you visit Tokyo and must eat Ramen then a visit to Ichiran is a must! I've actually heard of Ichiran quite some time ago, but I never had the chance to visit Japan. Before my trip to Hong Kong, I was able to look up this restaurant and luckily enough, there is now one open for business in Hong Kong. The Ichiran in Hong Kong is actually the first of their restaurants outside of Japan, so I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to try it out and see what all the buzz about the Ramen here is really about. So, let's wait no further and feast our eyes on this Japanese classic.

In Hong Kong, there are now two branches of Ichiran, one in Tong Lo Wan and the other in Tsim Sha Tsui. The first was opened in 2013, the other, 2015. Since I was going for a shopping trip in Tsim Sha Tsui, I thought I would take the opportunity to visit the newer branch at Tsim Sha Tsui.

The weather on this day was magnificent. This branch of Ichiran is situated opposite the new K11 Arts Shopping centre. Here are some pictures of the area. By now, you can tell that most pictures of Hong Kong will look some what similar - lots of high rise buildings and all very close together. However, this building is actually designed quite well and I like the unique look of it amongst the others surrounding it. It reminds me a bit of a Transformer.

The K11 Arts Shopping Center is nick named "The worlds first Arts Shopping Center".

The K11 Center is also one of my favourite shopping centre's in Hong Kong, combining arts and crafts with a plethora of shops.

In a followup post, I will take you on a tour of the K11 Shopping Center, for now, shift your eyes to the right side of the road.

You can see a big poster advertisement of Ichiran!


Let's go in and take a look!

The entrance has their signature red sign posts.

A walk down the stairs and we arrive at the main restaurant area. If you read my post about Dim Sum in Hong Kong, then you'll know that most restaurants in Hong Kong are usually in the basement whilst their entrance is on the ground floor.

The red colour advertisements and logo not only draw your attention, it's also something that leaves an easily recognisable impression.

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that the place was already full of guest diners. The waiters and waitresses definitely have their hands full!

The staff at the counter announced that the waiting time is around half an hour. She asked me where i'd like to sit to eat. I could choose from the area on the left, or on the right.

As you can see, the left was completely packed, so I said i'd like a table on the right.

Whilst we're waiting, let's take a look at some of the merchandise that they also sell.

There are many limited edition food boxes. This way, aside from enjoying their food at the restaurant, you can also take their taste home. Killing two birds with one stone is a great idea indeed.

My favourite Matcha Green Tea.

This trophy caught my attention. It turns out that Ichiran is the number one Ramen place in all of Japan. Of course, this made me even more excited to try the ramen.

This vacant seat board is really useful, it shows when seats become available. With so many guests waiting, it's a nice addition.

Behind me is the long queue of people.

Waiting.. and more waiting..

Ordering your ramen is super easy. You can choose the thickness of the soup, the greasiness, as well as the amount of condiments that are added to your soup. For instance, you can choose how much garlic and onion you'd like, as well as how much roast pork, and how spicy. You can even ask for even more noodle if one bowl isn't enough.

Finally, the Hakata Ramen has arrived, we opted for extra roasted seaweed.

And below is my ramen. I'm not good at eating spicy food so mine ramen is with just a pinch of spice. After eating the ramen, I have to say Ichiran's reputation for ramen is well deserved, not only is the soup base thick, the broth is full of flavour from being cooked overnight with pork bone. The noodles are stern but not under cooked and is just the right texture.

And that concludes our visit to the infamous Ichiran Ramen joint in Hong Kong, hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to follow to see more food blogs and many more!

曾经听别人说过，如果你在东京只能吃一次拉面，一定要选择一兰拉面。我很早就听说一兰拉面了，只是一直没有机会去日本，这次去香港之前，我查到一兰拉面的第一家海外分店就设在了香港，不禁感觉自己太幸运了，终于可以尝一尝大家都赞不绝口的一兰拉面了，现在就请大家和我一起去找寻亚洲最火爆的人气拉面吧。一兰拉面在香港的2家分店——铜锣湾店和尖沙咀，分别在2013和2015年开业，因为正好要去尖沙咀逛街，所以就选择去它的新店看看。

今天的天气非常好，一兰拉面就在新开业的K11购物艺术馆对面。在香港拍高楼大厦，大概都是这种视角，因为地方太挤楼又太高，不过我很喜欢这个楼的设计，非常独特的外壳，有点像变形金刚。K11购物艺术馆有着“全球首个购物艺术馆”之称。K11也是我在香港最喜欢商场之一，完美的把艺术博物馆和商场结合。我会在之后的文章里带大家走进K11探索，现在请大家把视线移到马路右边。你会看见好大一个一兰拉面的招牌。现在赶快跟随我走进去探索一下吧。门口的装饰非常的招牌。下一个楼梯就走进了餐厅，在之前介绍尖沙咀dim sum的文章里我也提到过，尖沙咀大部分餐厅都在地下一层。红色系的广告非常吸引人眼球，也非常有辨识度，让大家一看就能认出是一兰拉面。走进来之后，发现里面的客人已经爆满，柜台的服务员已经忙不过来。这时候服务员告诉我大概要等半个小时，并让我选择坐在左边还是右边的区域。很容易看出左边已经座无虚席了，所以我就选择排右边的队。

在排队之前，先来看看店里卖的可爱的商品。有很多限量的小吃礼品盒，这样除了在一兰享受美食，还可以把一兰带回家，一举两得多好呀。我最喜欢的抹茶。这个大奖北吸引了我，原来一兰拉面是全日本面类料理的第一名，这让我对他的面更加期待了。这个空座位的提示板在一兰拉面显得格外有用呀，因为排队的人真的太多了。我身后就是长长的队伍。菜单上的选项非常人性化，可以选择汤的浓度，油腻度，自选加配料的量，例如香蒜和葱，还有叉烧，还有秘制辣椒酱的量，面的硬度等等。大概如果一碗面不够还可以加。加了紫菜的博多风拉面终于上来了。当然，我的是这碗，因为确实吃不了太辣的食物呢。拉面确实名不虚传，汤底醇厚，是真正的肉骨汤，拉面有嚼劲，软硬度适中，半熟的鸡蛋也很嫩滑。今天的拉面探索就到这里吧，希望大家喜欢，之后还有更多有趣的餐厅等着我们去探索。