Ichiran Ikebukuro

Ramen is delicious .
We tried the garlic oil one (black colored soup). it’s definitely different but very uniquely good

This place is very solitary. Get a ticket out of the machine and shut down in a single booth. You don’t see any of the cooks with the little window slot you get. Ramen is tasty with the salted egg. I had to get a refill because this ramen size was too small which is why I can’t give it a 5 star rating. I could get the noodles in three chopsticks full. Otherwise it’s great as long as you don’t mind the portion.

Great tasting ramen, the proportion ration between ramen and broth was good
The ramen was tasty with good texture and it wasn’t too thick. You order and pay first at the machine by the door and you can sit at any available booth. Then you check off what kind of ingredients and texture you desire.

It was pretty hard to find a location without a long wait time so I was pretty happy when I found this location. I had pretty high expectations walking in since my friends kept talking about how good it is. Somehow they were still able to exceed my expectation and the ramen is by far the best I have ever had. Delicious. Drooling just thinking about it now.

In Japan for the first time and this was my 2^nd experience of Ramen. This was very interesting. you order through a vending machine, how cute! But very limited selections. The experience is so different. Soup was delicious, not too flavorful which I like. Noodles were decent and especially the price! Compared to SF Ramen, the price is cheaper here and way taste way better.

Unlike in the U.S., where a chain restaurant makes me break into cold sweats, this popular ramen chain was my absolute favorite bowl of ramen in all of Tokyo. This particular location is in Ikebukuro, so it’s not surprising I’m the first English review. Ikebukuro is not as tourist-​heavy as Shinjuku or Shibuya, but it’s still a great place to stay. There will likely be a line here, but don’t worry it moves pretty quickly.
Like a lot of noodle shops, you need to purchase a ticket from a vending machine. This can be confusing to people who don’t read Japanese. Stick with the big buttons at the top of the machine, or ask the host for help. After you purchase your meal ticket, you need to fill out a piece of paper with your preferences. They have an English version, so you can check if you want a «rich» flavor (how much fat), how spicy you want it, etc. You can also include a hard cooked or soft cooked egg.
This ramen is tonkatsu style, and that’s my preference. So if you’re looking for a focus on miso ramen or another style, this might not be for you. They do have tsukumen here though (cold ramen with cold dipping sauce) so you can do that in the hot months if you like. All of the seats in this restaurant can be singles; they just collapse foldable cubicle walls to accommodate larger parties. Hang your bags and coat on the coat hook behind you, and have a seat. My favorite part– you have your own personal water tap for unlimited refills. Once you have your ticket, just hand it to the anonymous hands that will appear from the small window in front of you.
When your ramen is done, the window will open and your meal will appear. If you decide to order extra noodles, an egg, etc., just alert your anonymous hand-​server and they’ll get it for you. It’s not very personal, but it’s easy, quick, and foreigner friendly. Most importantly it’s amazingly delicious and very reasonable; $ 7 gets you a full meal with incredibly well made noodles, pork, and broth. In a city as large as Tokyo, there are few places I try to return to, but Ichiran is one of them.