ronnycakes reviews: Ippudo Ramen, Pavilion KL

Being a ramen fan faced with a highly anticipated new ramen chain, I wouldn’t miss being standing in line within the first few weeks for all the world. For me, the best ramen I’ve tried so far still remains as Santouka, but I think I’ve finally met another bowl of ramen that could definitely give Santouka a run for it’s money.

Ippudo originated in 1985 from Fukuoka Japan, and claims that they were the first to refer to broth by colour which soon became a standard industry practice (as seen in Menya Musashi as well). The Shiromaru and Akamaru style of broth are still considered as Ippudo’s signature ramen. Ippudo has since expanded all over the world to Sydney, New York, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Sydney and Singapore. The founder of Ippudo, Shigemia Kawahara is no small fry either as he is considered Japan’s “Ramen King”, winning the title in a competition in 2005. As for Ippudo, it has won Tokyo’s Ramen of the Year Award for 2010-2011 and even Santouka Ramen was opened by one of his disciples.

With all that, how can I not be excited to try it out myself?

We went early to skip the queue, but even at 11.30am, the shop was already almost packed to the brim, and as we left the place, we saw a queue slowly starting to form.

The interior design is of spotlights and wooden fixtures, with white-black-red being their main colour scheme. Bowls and spoons used in serving the ramen are also utilized as modern and trendy decor.

For starters we had the Curry Cheese Harumaki (RM10). Deep-fried spring rolls with a crispy exterior and soft curry-cheesy interior. One thing definitely worth mentioning about Ippudo is that unlike the other ramen chains that make ramen the sole offering of the menu (with the exception of rice or other generic Japanese dishes), Ippudo actually has a very extended side dish menu varying from fried corn to miso tofu in a stone pot. Definitely will have to check those out some time.

I went for the Shiromaru Tamago (RM28); Ippudo’s original tonkotsu broth served with ultra thin noodles, belly chashu, bean sprouts, kikurage and spring onions. I found the soup to be lovely and flavourful and somewhat lighter than the one at Santouka. Another plus point at Ippudo is that they let the diner decide how cooked they want the ramen to be. That’s definitely something my mum would appreciate because she always complains that Santouka’s ramen is too undercooked.

Wils had the Karaka Tamago (RM30); which is tonkotsu broth flavoured with special spicy miso and ground pork with a flavoured egg. This one was definitely something I felt blew everything I’ve tried out of the water. What made this unique and different was the addition of ground pork. Absolutely yummy!

 
The chashu you get at Ippudo is slightly fattier but has a melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

Enjoying our bowl of ramen and can’t wait to go back for more!

Price-wise, Ippudo is slightly steeper than the other ramen chains we’ve reviewed but I think that the slight price increase is definitely justifiable by the taste of the broth. Don’t miss this one if you’re as big of a ramen fan as I am!

Address:
Level 4, Pavilion Shopping Mall,
Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Map *here*