Ikkudo Ichi

Like it's not too many yet, another new ramen place open couple weeks ago in Jakarta, spotted in the expanding cafe districts at Pantai Indah Kapuk. This one is from Fukuoka, Japan. I passed by the place on a Sunday with my mom and cars were lining up on the parking spot, so were the congratulations flowers. As expected, bunch of people were queuing. Not in the mood of waiting, I skipped it and went back couple days after. 

I like what they did with the exterior, the artificial Sakura trees and paper lanterns covering the ceiling quite reflected Japanese look. As always, a welcome shout in Japanese greeted my entrance and I was seated in a table where I could see the entire room. My first impression was "Thank God it was not another red or black color dominated ramen place", the room was covered in natural wooden giving a homey atmosphere even with the open kitchen in the back.

The menu offered was vary from ramen, tsukemen (dipping ramen), yakiniku, curry and wagyu steak. What impressed me was when I asked the staff which of the menu is not available at the moment, and she said all is available. Impressive right? Comparing with the very limited items another ramen place had when they did the grand opening. 

So, I chose Ikkudo's buta kara (39,8k), pork ramen with Ikkudo's special secret red sauce. We can customize the ramen to our liking, we can choose how we want our noodle firmness, flavor strength and richness (the amount of oil filtered from the soup) in the level of light, normal or heavy. It was advisable for first timer to opt normal for everything, but I chose my noodle firmness to be heavy level as I like my noodle firm half cooked type, flavor strength normal level and richness light level. They have two choices of noodle, small or curly noodle. I chose small one. I also ordered Yaki buta gyoza ebi iri (35k), a plate of grilled pork with prawn gyoza. 

The ramen came with three slices of char su, mushrooms and tamago with their secret red sauce. It was explained on the menu that the basis of their secret red sauce's taste is in the red chilli mixed with spices and many other vegetables, cooked slowly in many hours to enhance and bring out the wholesome flavor. When I sipped the pork broth, it seriously reminded me of Ikkousha's. The thickness and the savory was exactly the same, although this one was less oily because I asked it to be light. The noodle type was also similar, straight thin one. I like it very much as much as I like Ikkousha. The gyoza was delicious, the skin was in the right thickness with juicy nicely seasoned pork and prawn filling. Oh yes, they also provide garlic in the table.

The verdict, Ikkudo is a very recommended ramen place with affordable price. If you happen to be in the neighborhood or even if not, do try, it's worth the visit. Personally, I really feel like I was eating in Ikkousha except for the nicer ambiance. Let me know if you have the same thought. :)

Pay attention on the opening hours though, they closed for several hours in the noon.  

Ikkudo Ichi

Rukan Crown Golf Blok D No.2-3

Pantai Indah Kapuk

North Jakarta

Ph. +6221 96628677

Opening hours: 11am - 2pm, 5pm - 10pm.

Other branch:

- Jl. Pesanggrahan Raya No. 168M, Puri Indah (Ph. +6221 58302121)
- Flavor Bliss, Serpong
- Grand Indonesia GF level (west mall)
- Mall Central Park
- Boulevard Kelapa Gading