Ikkousha Fukuoka 博多一幸舎総本店 (Fukuoka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We knew Hakata ramen would be featured prominently while we were staying in Fukuoka this weekend but I never imagined we'd get it out of the way on our very first meal in the city. Picking the right ramen shop to start our ramen tasting trip wasn't an easy task but at the end, I was more than happy that I picked out Ikkousha Fukuoka (博多一幸舎総本店) as our starting point.



Ikkousha Ramen's flagship is about a 6 to 8-minute walk from Hakata Station (depending on where you start. West Exit side will be a lot closer). You may wonder why we need to venture so far out while there's already an Ikkousha shop at the train station's Ramen Street. Well, for one, the menu is slightly different and we don't necessarily get all the flavors (broth) available at their flagship store.



This is pretty self-explanatory. 



For the convenience of tourists like us, they also offer the menus in English and Chinese with their vending machine.



Ajitama Tonkotsu Ramen (950 yen) - Ikkousha's most popular item featuring their famous broth made with Kyushu pork bones.



What really separates Ikkousha's tonkotsu ramen from other competitions is the fact that they do an excellent job with the preparation of their rich-flavored pork bone broth. Their refined broth-boiling technique still allows the broth to capture the flavors (a la traditional way) but it eliminates the greasiness and most importantly, the gamey odor resulting in this silky smooth and delicious broth.

I love the thin noodles too, working well with the flavorful broth.



Black Ajitama Ramen (1,000 yen) - This came with virtually the same pork bone broth but it has been infused with black garlic and sesame.



I was hoping that the black garlic would stand out a bit more.



This came with the same thin noodles which was al dente and full of bite (And I ordered "normal" bite only).



The soft-boiled egg was perfect.



Red Ajitama Ramen (1,000 yen) - Again, the same pork bone based soup but this time infused with mentaiko oil (明太子) resulting in the red color that reminded me a bit of our own dan dan noodles (擔擔麵).



I was warned by our server about the spicy kick but if it wasn't for the extra heat, why would I be picking this over their basic Ajitama tonkotsu ramen?



In my opinion, this was the best out of the three. You get the usual thick and rich-flavored broth from a tonkotsu ramen but there's an extra dimension there thanks to the spicy mentaiko oil. The spiciness was right on the money without going over the top.



There's a reason why Ikkousha is one of the most successful Hakata ramen chains in Fukuoka. Obviously, the team behind it has a great deal of passion.








Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: ￥￥￥
Address: 3-23-12 Hakata Ekimae, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0011 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Hakata
Tel: +81 (0)92-432-1190
Website: www.ikkousha.com
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 11:30pm  (Mon - Sat), 11:00am - 8:30pm  (Sun)