Ramen, Japanese Singles’ Style

We knew that there was an Ichiran Ramen near Canal City and set out to find this unique ramen establishment.  What might be unique to us, is actually fairly normal for the Japanese.  Ichiran Ramen is one of those places where you sit and eat at individual stalls.  This way, you’re not taking up a whole table, but it does also seem to create a bit of a reclusive environment, as it wasn’t just one section that had these individual stalls.  The whole restaurant was like this.

The entrance area consisted of a big menu along with order sheets in English, Chinese and Korean.  I’m not sure why they didn’t have Japanese ones, but maybe locals order differently.  There was also a “system guide” which educated diners on how it all works.

After you grab your order sheets, you will see what looks like a vending machine right at the entrance  You choose what kind of noodles you want and pay the applicable cost and then out shoots a ticket, which you need to take with you to your stall. 

However, before you can sit down, you need to look at this legend to see which stalls are free.  Select a table where the light is lit up (空 means empty) and start filling out your order sheet with your preferences.  

Shortly after, one of the employees will peek through the hole in your stall to grab your order sheet and ticket from you.  Your noodles will then also be served through this hole in the stall.

I can’t say that I loved the noodles I had here, but I knew going in that I wanted to try it more for the experience than anything.  It was so unique and nothing like I’ve ever tried before, so I thought it was well worth the cost and time it took to come here.