They Made Me Eat Ramen Alone in a Cubicle... (Ichiran honest review)

this video is sponsored by better help [Music] what's up guys salute this is Alex welcome back to the ramen series season two so in the previous episode I was in Chicago to see the absolute Ramen legend that is Mike satin over as Ramen LOL and together we hosted a crazy pop-up event creating and serving more than 300 bowls of ramen in one night such a crazy amazing and yet very humbling experience right now I'm heading back to Paris via New York and since my flight is in a few hours I got some time to kill and I really feel like having a bowl of ramen I mean look at the weather it's Misty it's gloomy it's a little cold this is not calling for a clear broth this is calling for tonkotsu tonkotsu is one of the four founding stars of ramen along with miso Ramen season with miso Shia Ramen season with salt and show you Ramen season with soy sauce tonkotsu has become globally the most iconic style of ramen probably the most recognizable element to this study is the thick creamy soup this iconic broth is made from pork bones that have been boiled for many hours and you know that rolling boil helps to emulsify the pork fat into the broth making for a very rich creamy soup almost milky the other thing tonkotsu Ramen is known for are the noodles which are super thin you know straight very firm and almost crunchier snap in the center so literally the most popular spot to have traditional tonkotsu is right in front of me it's called ichiran Ramen in 1960 ichiran was born in Fukuoka City Japan ichiran started as a food store today ichirana has become some sort of a small Empire with over 80 locations worldwide that place is not only famous for its bowl of ramen but also for its very very unique setup where you're supposed to eat in what they call a Ramen Focus Booth Ramen Focus could be the the title of my series there you go this is the place one person okay I'm gonna give you this you'll be able to fill out at the table you're going to be at 22. thank you [Music] I guess this is gonna be me all right so this is my first time here I feel like I'm a salary man so basically this is what I see okay I've got a menu loads of text and then [Music] thank you apparently you can't do this so why am I coming to ichiran it's a restaurant chain it's not like Artisan Ramen what am I doing here I mean first of all this place has been recommended a lot to me also I'm not super familiar with tonkotsu in general so I thought it would be good to educate myself and last ichiran is more of an experience more than just a restaurant and I'm all for living new experiences in life I've got a menu in front of it it says customize your Ramen the saltiness so I'm gonna go for medium medium is fine richness the oil amount I'm gonna go for rich now is not the time to chicken out especially since it's a pork based broth minced garlic garlic scallions obviously with shashu obviously with original spicy red sauce I think medium is fine the texture of the noodle I'm gonna go for firm because I feel like this is going to be more suited for tonkotsu yeah I'm gonna go for the recommended toppings set so now I just need to wait for somebody to come and pick up my menu [Music] yes thank you [Music] thinking this is going to be like a Ramen egg some shashu some you know it's seaweed a bit of mushrooms and some spring onions you should probably refrain from eating all the toppings straight away well otherwise I won't have anything to put in the ramen it does feel like this restaurant was invented by someone who's maybe not the greatest fan of human interactions this sound this is triggering my appetite I'm just gonna go for a tiny piece you should probably refrain from eating all the toppings something's fishy is happening behind the curtain I want him to see me I can spot a few things happening and every time somebody's passing by I'm thinking this might be for me I feel like the first bowls are being served right next to me this waiting is killing me I feel so left alone in my cubic yard yeah crazy I think this world is doomed maybe oh yes nice thank you there is a sense of drama and theater but it's Black Box me alone in this cubicle waiting for my fate we decided for me okay and now a few words from our sponsor better hemp it's better help h-e-l-p better help is the world's largest therapy service it is a hundred percent online and you can tap into a network of 25 000 license and experience therapist who can help you with a wide range of issues to get started you just need to answer a few questions about your needs and preferences in a therapy that way better healthy and match you with the right therapist from their Network then you can talk to your therapist however you feel comfortable whether it's via text chat phone or even video call you can message your therapist at any time and schedule a live session where it's convenient for you if your therapist is in the right fit for any reason you can switch your new therapist at no additional charge with better hand you could get the same professionalism and quality you expect from an in-office therapy but with a therapist who is custom picked for you more scheduling flexibility and at more affordable price get 10 of your first month at betterhealth.com Alex it is better h-e-l-p also linked Below in the description thank you better help for sponsoring this video [Music] very clean very cloudy and it's supposed to be cloudy but very clean the presentation oh it looks amazing very savory garlicky I am salivating like crazy and this is very hot spicy Savory Rich so many different flavors in there definitely very meaty this is supposed to be one of the showstopper usually it's pockberry that is braised and caramelized don't look like pork belly this one okay [Music] this is another bite [Music] [Applause] they gave me a Ramen egg but I have to do all the work myself right so this is the ramen egg it doesn't seem to be that soft but what do I need let's just bite into it and see very creamy it does look very good [Music] the spice in that soup is very appreciated I should have gone for something spicier everybody's eating alone behind me exactly like I am many of them are on their phone I mean it's understandable something great and something weird at the same time in this restaurant experience there are these shine running it's like somebody completed a bowl or something [Music] the noodles are already starting to change in terms of texture so I ordered them a film and I'm thinking they are soft a little bit of music which is covering my voice at the same time sometimes the music gets really really low like right now more noodles okay so this is the extra serving of noodle in all fairness I didn't order these because I was still angry I'm just curious to see how extra firm noodles are gonna taste like hmm they are amazing I'm such a noob I drunk all the broth and now I'm left with dry noodles goof 101 there is some good in that bag [Music] pill with a wheat flavor I can also obviously smell like the corn sweet like The Alkali ingredients of all this it sounds like the eggy eggy smell to Noodles even when they don't get eggs in them of course they are extra firm they are also swinging and chewy [Music] so right now I am very very very full I think it makes sense that tonkotsu is super popular in the US and worldwide it's easy to love I love it it's very strong very much in your face in terms of fat content saltiness savoriness as good as this tonkotsu Ramen was I love having Ramen multiple times a week and with this I couldn't even have this every other week even every month is a lot for this one about the noodles they are prepared fresh here on location they are very thin very flavorful especially when you taste them out of the broth the toppings I'm not so sure about them on paper the shashu that ichiran is serving was supposed to be a big selling point now in reality well it's too thin so it's hard to get it juicy it's hard to get it tender it's pretty simple I had way better shashu in different places it's weird to send the garnishes first without the bowl because these have been sitting in front of me for like 30 10 minutes which means that they might be cold already what do I think about the egg well the egg is nice but I wish they peeled it it's not that I'm lazy well I might be but it's a restaurant so I feel like they should take care of it there was also something pretty cool about this Ramen it was the original spicy red sauce it's making probably the whole experience a little more fun a little more exciting surely I feel like this Ramen is serving a purpose you're in a city like New York Tokyo or any other enormous chaotic cold City you want a bit of comfort you want to be the privacy might be your best option now on the other hand if I go to restaurant I want to see people so eating in an office cubicle that's not a dream for me it's been a pleasure to share this weird experience with you if you feel like we should share more weird experiences maybe it's time to comment I'm not bothering too good so far another month so we see us in the next one bye-bye [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music]

Channel: Alex

Views: 332,319

Keywords: ichiran, ramen, nyc, restaurant, review, ippudo, tonkotsu, noodles

Id: 6NkgGiNzz2A

Length: 13min 8sec (788 seconds)

Published: Sat May 27 2023