Ippudo: Famous tonkotsu ramen chain in Japan
When you think of ramen chains in Japan, I’m sure most people think of Ichiran. But I find Ichiran almost always has really long queues and their dining experience features more solo dining aspects (you eat facing a wall or curtain).
In this post, I want to introduce another popular Japanese ramen chain that you may have heard of: Ippudo. They are also famous for their tonkotsu (pork based) broth. Like Ichiran, they have locations all across Japan and actually some in the US also. In this blog post, I will be reviewing the location inside Aeon Mall in Kyoto.
Ippudo
１番地 Nishikujo Toriiguchicho, 京都市 南区 Kyoto 601-8417, Japan
The vibe
I mean… I saw Ichiran always has a long line but unknowingly, we waited quite awhile at this Ippudo location also 🙃. We joined a short line at 7:20pm and was seated at 7:46pm. I guess that’s only around 20 mins wait but maybe because it was the end of the day after a lot of walking – it definitely felt longer 😑.
While we waited, we were given menus so we could decide what to order as we waited.
This location is inside a huge mall called Aeon Mall (I highly recommend btw 👍). It is on kind of like a food court floor so each restaurant space is not that big. Once seated, it was pretty chaotic inside the small space. Tables were mostly for groups of 2 with the occasional 4. You order on an ipad so there’s no need to worry about the language barrier.
Food review
Prices have been converted from yen to CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Gyoza (+$5)
The first item that arrived (very quickly… like within minutes of us ordering on the ipad) was our gyozas (dumplings). We ordered 10 pieces for around 470 yen.
Now eating 10 dumplings might seem too filling for me, but the dumplings here at Ippudo are quite small – they are basically one biters. The inside is filled with pork meat and the best part about these is how thin the skin/wrappers are. They are pan-fried and have a nice crunch to them along with the dipping sauce.
Kiwami akamaru ($13)
We both ordered the kiwami akamaru ramen. This comes in a red bowl and is a modern-style ramen that brings depth to the tonkotsu broth. There is richness in the soy sauce, garlic fragrant oil and the special blend of spicy miso – this gives the broth a bit of a kick 😮!
The char siu pork was fatty and tender, falling apart if I picked it up with my chopsticks. The egg was slightly overcooked (I like mine more in a jammy texture) but nothing to complain about.
For noodels, you can choose how al dente you want it on the ipad. I like thin ramen noodles so this really hit the spot.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After a long day in Japan, this bowl of ramen from Ippudo really did wonders for me and rejuvenated me. I really loved the broth, char siu and the gyozas so everything was awesome and a great price for the amount of food you get.
In terms of the comparison between Ichiran and Ippudo, I would say they are almost neck and neck to me. I think Ichiran’s broth may have a deeper flavour (both Ichiran and Ippudo are tonkotsu based) and have a better presentation, but Ippudo has that spiciness to it that I find addicting.
Recommended: Read my last review of Ichiran during my last trip to Japan in 2019.
So I guess to wrap this up, I cannot say Ichiran is better than Ippudo, or one of the other. Both are delicious, relatively cheap and I would just line up for whichever one has a shorter line.
Sincerely, Loewe