Ramen Ikkyu

I have only tried their Pork Chashu raamen (about 3 times) and I like it but not the best. You get a lot of chashu and its worth the price

I found this place through urban list. I brought 2 friends who have never tried real ramen before and I was more excited than usual to try this place. This place is located in Chinatown and at first we had a little trouble looking for it. However, once we found the mall it was located in we followed our noses and found it.
To my surprise, it was in a food court setting. I was kind of nervous cause I wasn’t sure that the quality was gonna be great. Regardless we continued on and unfortunately it was cash only. Should’ve researched that further but I expected it to be cash only. The order came out in 5 minutes, no exaggeration. And it tasted GREAT. I had the Chef’s Special and it was exactly what I wanted. They gave you a good amount of meat. The ramen was the perfect temperature. The broth was delicious. The only downside for this whole experience was that other vendors, including Ikkyu, wouldn’t give me tap water. One place had cups and I saw a sink. They said they only sold bottled water which I thought was utter bullshit. I’m not a believer of purchasing water only if it was absolutely necessary and I was really upset by this. I had to buy water to offbalance the saltiness and the richness of the ramen. So when coming to this food court, bring your own water.
I would definitely come back to this place to try their other ramens!

Hide in Chinatown, the best ramen in Sydney, after we visited almost all ramen restaurants near CBD for several times. Now our only ramen choice. There’s one con– dry and lean chachu may not be a good match to ramen. I will rate 4.6

Ramen Ikkyu is part of the great food options available on the top level of the Sussex Centre food court. Nestled in the corner this place is definitely one that has a lot to bring to the table literally.
The shop displays the recognition it’s received from Sydney Food guide. The menu is laid out quite well and displays exactly what your getting in terms of whether or not it’s a spicy or salty broth.
When you go up to order you need to input your order into an iPad and then pay the guy behind the counter. I’m confused as to why they have this step because the guy is literally right there watching you as you enter your selection. Possibly just there because some people are going to be impressed by touch screen ordering.
I decided I would order Spicy Chilli Ramen with an extra egg. The order process is well run and your receipt comes with a number so all you got to do is wait on your number to be called. I got my Ramen quickly and opted to use some of the extra toppings like chilli, soy and garlic.
The Broth is just the right amount of thickness I felt. The flavouring was really good and not over the top spicy but still enough to give you hot lips. The portion size is just right in my opinion anymore and I think it would be too much for me. Your receipt entitles you to extra noodles if you require.
The mix is very good with tasty bamboo shoots, sea weed and pork. The noodles are plentiful and soft. I really liked the blend, only criticism for me was the pork was a little fatty in parts and I had to spit those bits to the side of my tray.
I practically licked my bowl dry and would definitely put this as one of my favourite Ramen spots in Sydney.

Twas a sunny day, no more crazy storms! Means I no longer had to be stuck with Menya (downstairs from my office, and not a problem I stress) — I could actually walk very far for other fancy stuff for lunch! For this day, I was very bent on having ramen (if you’re asking if I hadn’t had enough ramen during two weeks of horrible weather… nope. I once had 5 full-​sized bowls of ramen in a day in Sapporo), so it was a choice between Yasaka, Gumshara or Ikkyu. Since this day was the first time the sun came out, I had to do the longest walk in case the sun hid its face again.
For the first time in my and Ikkyu’s collective life, I was the first customer there! I thought I saw other people having ramen within the vacinity of Ikkyu, but maybe they bought it elsewhere in the food court. I got a bit suspicious that they have dropped their «150 bowls a day only» policy, or that everyone’s tickets said 1, but I did later hear the counter go up. Shouldn’t have any bearing on the quality I suppose.
So for a breakdown of what I’ve ordered. I ordered a chef’s special (which is a black garlic oil chicken soup ramen, with a slice of pork and some vegetables). Rating the individual parts:
Toppings
1. Black fungus: was crunchy and thick. The sign of quality — you don’t want ones which are all mushy or tiny or skinny. Tick.
2. Bamboo shoots: I think this one stood out, and I acknowledge that not everyone gives bamboo shoots much of a thought. In some places where you go (like Menya), they tend to give you packet ones from a cheap brand, and it’s really obvious when compared with a place who actually cares — at Menya, they’re all sad and limp. The reason for the limpness is because the cheaper brands tend to use older shoots (so the farmer gets more shoot), and they would use the lower portion which would have fibrosed by harvesting time. In order to make them edible, a softening process is applied.
At Ikkyu they’re sweet, all tips, and crunchy.
3. Bean sprouts, corn: all fresh, not hard to make them fresh and taste the way they should.
Ramen
The ramen itself has steadily shrunken in size over the past few times I visited, compared with the first few times I visited. I suspect the owner must be feeling the pinch. Not hard to imagine, given the quality of ingreditents generally used. But I do see the reduction of value. For me — admittedly, I’m big-​portion eater — the original order plus the kaedama (roughly translated: add a portion?) was just enough to satisfy me. Just. Obviously everyone eats different amounts, but my main point is that, when they first opened shop, I would almost be ok just on the original order and by the time I finished the kaedama, I was very full.
The quality of the ramen is great, just the right amount of spring, and no trace of soda like Gumshara’s.
Soup
Rich and delicious, no fault there.
Pork
I ordered an extra portion of pork and forgot that, these days, they serve the additional portion within the soup. If the owners read this, please don’t do that — it really wrecks the glaze which gives it that delightful flavour. I hope this wasn’t done just to save washing an extra plate because that would be a huge shame. Or unless the roasting and glazing is no longer done.
For the quality of the pork itself, I like it here than most other places — partly the cut of pork and the way it is cut. Most places (more traditionally), roll pork bellies and cut them like a log, but for me (maybe I’m heathen), it’s a bit too soft and lacks texture. I like the way they cut it at Ikkyu — slightly from the side, so there’s more of a bite.
I liked it, but based on the little things which I think have slipped since the early days, I’m not exactly dreaming about it anymore.

One of the best ramen joint in Sydney. The broth is amazing and the you can’t go wrong with the chefs special.
Need to go back for the gyoza.

Recommended by another Sydney Unilocaler we decided to drop by this place for a snack. Located in the corner of the food court, this place was very unassuming. On the wall you can see a couple of newspapers that raved about their ramen. We tried the Chef special spicy ramen, I thought it tasted too oily and peppery for my taste buds. The plus though, is that when you bring the receipt back to the cashier they give you extra noodles, which was a PLUS, since my husband and I shared one bowl. I haven’t tried any other ramen place in Sydney, but I hope this place is not the standard. I could have gotten better back home in Dallas,

People love Ramen. foodies search inches of cities to get a decent bowl of it. Japanese natives dedicate their lives to the art of making it. Packaged foods companies have capitalised off it. And I am searching too for my fav spot in Sydney.
Because Anthony Bourdain is my spirit animal I too have a deep seated addiction to noodle bowls. I’ve consumed «real» Ramen only three times. Twice in Chicago and now Sydney so I’m an amateur when knowing what to order.
I skipped Gumshara due to the reviews of having a really thick broth, but my palate decided that ikkyu’s was just as dense and savoury as reviewed. My bowl? CHEFS CHOICE which was nicely printed as being popular. It was priced at $ 13.50 ladled with delicious Black Garlic & Chili oil so it had a nice kick. Noodles soaked up that porky gravy and were chewy chewy. Even my egg turned color! The pork pieces themselves were tender and I there were some hidden bamboo shoots and green onion.
I do think that next time I’ll try the Tokyo Salt or Soy which is made with chicken and is a little more light and mild.

This place is hard to find! It’s tucked away in the back corner of a food court but well worth the hunt, especially considering the price of some of the menu items. I had a huge craving for ramen and decided on the Tokyo Soy which comes with a soft-​cooked egg, cooked bean shoots, seaweed, bamboo shoots and thickly cut pork cha shu. The ramen noodles are excellent (firm and some spring) and the broth is dense and thick.
If you ask at the time of ordering you can get additional noodles for free but no extra broth. For $ 11.50 you can’t go wrong! I did much worse in Sydney.

Finally got to try out this place after it being on my list for nearly a year! And no, I was not disappointed. It was my first time to be at the Sussex Centre food court and I was pleasantly surprised… I’ve been to several Chinatown food courts. While they were reasonably tidy they were kinda… grimy and busy and old. Sussex Centre is nicer, wasn’t as manic as I expected it to be around lunchtime, and was comparatively new.
There was a really friendly lady who showed us how to use the iPad ordering… but why have iPad ordering in the first place? I don’t get the point of having an iPad there that you click on with your order if there’s someone at the counter anyway asking you what you want. Wouldn’t it have been easier just to tell her? That aside, she was friendly — we explained it was our first time there, and she recommended the chef’s special (soy-​based ramen with black garlic oil and chilli) for me, at $ 13.50.
The wait wasn’t too bad, but then there wasn’t a line when we were there (maybe 1220PM on a Thursday — a line formed shortly after we ordered, though). It took around 10 – 15 minutes for our ramen to come. There’s a section off to the side where you can add chili flakes, garlic, and some other condiments on your ramen.
The ramen was good. The broth was rich in flavor, really nice and tasty, without being too thick (I find Gumshara’s a bit too thick for me.) It was slightly spicy, and since I love my spice I added more chilli flakes to it to give it more of a kick. Bamboo shoots and seawood were yummy!
My only complaint would be the chashu — I found it quite tough. :(The last ramen I had was at Ippudo and I have to say there chashu was a lot more tender. If not for the tough-​ish chashu I would’ve rated this as the best ramen in Sydney I’ve had so far.
Everything else was good though, and I had to stop myself from slurping the broth! ‘Twas one of those days where I didn’t talk over lunch, just chowed down my food, hehe. Would definitely come back and try their tan tan men ramen (which is my fave ramen, but I figured I’d start with their special since it was my first time and all.)
The menu has adjectives next to the entries (Famous! Hot! Popular!) so that can help you make your choice while ordering, too. :P

If you always wanted ramen with more protein instead of just one slice of meat, Ramen Ikkyu fills that void.
PORK RIB RAMEN $ 20
Every time I have ramen I tend to always ration out that precious slice of pork. While the soup and noodles are always quite good at other ramen places, the Ikkyu version although much more expensive than the norm is a complete meal and one of the most rich and satisfying ramen I’ve had ever. Instead of worrying about saving up that meat, it’s like being at an open bar where the noodles are the only thing running out. Even when you go through that succulent pork and rendered fat delight, there is still a delicious rib to die for.
The rest of the components were not neglected. On the contrary, the rich chicken tonkotsu should not be underestimated along with perfectly cooked noodles. Small touches such as bamboo shoots and seaweed added those occasional bursts of texture.
Free refill of noodles a.k.a Kaedama is an additional example of them exceeding customer expectations.
GYOZA 5PC $ 6
This is the first time that gyoza didn’t suck, I know it’s a ramen place but the gyoza tasted pretty good and the novelty presentation was a nice touch.
CHA-​SHU RICE $ 6
The rice itself was moreish, typical Japanese style sticky rice with slices of pork cha siu on top. The hidden pork mince in the centre of the rice was a nice surprise along with sauce. In all, surprisingly well balanced and good value.
Conclusion
There is a great combination of things that make Ramen Ikkyu special: high quality food court for a Chinatown venue, electronic self-​service POS for efficiency and having your protein and fat daily intake covered. This is my personal favourite in Chinatown.
@thesydneynoob

Am I enjoying this? Yes, immensely. Is it as good as Gumshara? No. Staff are absolutely delightful, the food centre here is nice — I can watch tourists walking below, and it’s close to everything.

If u see a long line, don’t go away! It’s worth the wait! Order whatever is «special of today»! And the gyoza is very good! I had the «Tan-​Tan-​men», it’s the special of that day and I’m happy I ordered that! But everything is good here. Small place with big D! D for Delicious! *\(^o^)/*

I hope ‘Ikkyu’ means ‘kick-​ass’ or ‘I want to swim in a pool of this broth’ in Japanese, because someone should have realized pretty early on it’s an unfortunate-​sounding choice in English.
Q: Where would you like to go for lunch? How about ramen?
A: Ramen?! Ikkyu!
See?
Anyway, I tried the vegie ramen ($ 12.50), which was great. The salt broth was deliciously rich (and not at all vegetarian, it should be noted; I think it comes with the same paitan broth used for the Ikkyu ramens), and the veggies (corn, woodear fungus, cabbage and carrots) were not overcooked and still crisp. I loved the springiness of the noodles, too, which were chewy and not too soft.
My only complaints: it surprises (and slightly irritates) me that the vegie costs more than most of the standard bearers with meat — in effect, a penalty for going pork-​less. I can’t imagine veggies costing more to prepare than chasu? Also, as much as I like the iPad ordering concept in theory, in practice it just slows things down. Is there much point to having the technology, if the store still has to pay someone to stand there and explain how to use it?
And please set out some cups and a pitcher of water! With a dish that I’m pretty sure delivers 1000% of your daily value of sodium in one sitting, the least you could do is give your customers a little relief from the salt with H2O.

I am no ramen expert but I must agree with all other Unilocalers that the ramen here is pretty darn good.
The ramen was not overcooked (hate it when restaurants serve mushy, overcooked ramen!), the broth was not too thick but full of flavors. The cha-​shu were slightly grilled… yummm…(I wish they were grilled on BOTH sides, but I guess I cant ask for everything, can i?)
Yes, they do have an electronic-​tablet-​like-​ordering system which you use to order. In my opinion, that’s silly because there is a cashier there in the first place… I reckon it is MORE efficient to place the order verbally with the cashier than using the electronic system?
Also, Ramen Ikkyu should consider selling drinks as well (beverage is typically a high profit-​margin business anyway).
Alright, it is hard to come by cheap & good food in Sydney, so I guess I can deal with this flaw of Ramen Ikkyu ;)

Seriously good ramen!!! Worth the 10 min strole from Central station. Taste took me back to Japan 20 years ago

Nice food court — check.
Hassle free group dining — check.
Futuristic experience (because Japan is about 5 – 10 years in the Future!) — check.
Cheap/​Affordable — check.
This place is the answer to those who prefer Ryos over Gumshara but without needing to cross the bridge.
Oh and this place also has vegetarian options too — rare for Japanese places (because there’s no real word for it in Japanese!)

Definitely 5 star, this ramen is the best I’ve had in Sydney.
Its tucked away in a corner of the food court. You self order with a touchscreen. Just afew to choose from, but can add extra for additional$$. Honestly, its already pretty sufficient so just keep in mind !
Love the thick, Tokyo shio broth. Fatty warm pork, chewy fresh noodles. Will keep coming back for more!
P. S. cash only!

Howard — I just put you in my will. Chef Haru Inukai is in there too.
Ikkyu is not hard to find but not easy either. Start at BBQ King, you’re about 3 minutes away. Don’t give up or you will miss the best Ramen in Sydney
Peppery chicken broth with noodles and bean sprouts and bamboo and Chashu and egg and… wow.
Packed already at 12 noon the procedure for ordering will need a little refinement but the food wont.

For those that were fans of the ramen lunches at Blancharu, have no fear because Ramen Ikkyu is here!!!
Chef Haru Inukai served my favourite ramen bowl in Sydney and has now opened his own little standalone ramen shop in the Sussex Centre Food Court. It’s a food court that’s a bit hidden in the heart of Chinatown, but a good one nonetheless… and it isn’t as busy as Eating World. The shop is located in the top left corner when you get off the escalator.
Rock up and pick from their various ramen variations like Ikkyu Shio (salt), Ikkyu Shoyu (soy) which are Paitan broth based (a combination of chicken/​pork bone broth,) and Tokyo Shio, Tokyo Shoyu, which are chicken broth based. Each bowl comes with 3 pieces of succulent chashu, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and black fungus, with handmade noodles by Chef Haru Inukai for $ 10.50 a bowl. Bonus, you can get extra noodles for FREE!!! No extra broth for free though.
If you want extra toppings you can do that too. I ended up ordering 6 extra pieces of chashu ($ 5) and a side order of corn for ($.50) for $ 5.50 to go with my Ikkyu Shio. If you like a more savoury broth, go with the Ikkyu Shoyu, as the Ikkyu Shio is a bit lighter. If you don’t like how thick and savoury Gumshara’s broth is, you’ll love it here… otherwise you might hate it.
But seriously, my favourite ramen shop (outside of Japan.)
OF ALL TIME!