Is Ippudo worth the hype?

Ippudo, finally opened on September 10, 2013.
The global ramen chain, which started in Fukuoka city in 1985, has been garnering a lot of hype and clamor for its ramen and other dishes. Ippudo, translated directly, the name means "One Wind Hall", connoting they only have one electric fan for the whole restaurant, haha.

Located at the 3rd floor of Megafashion Hall of SM Megamall, it's beside Sports Central and the yet to be opened Tuan Tuan. Long lines of curious customers and Ippudo fanatics were there in full force til 3:00pm. The lines waned after 3:00 pm and I was able to get a place by the bar without waiting at all. 

Can't help but notice a Japanese team supervising and guiding the local team,
service was quick and there were servers going around to check if somebody got your order.
Space was a bit tight but not cramped, since there were a lot of diners and its hard to eat with television crews shooting the restaurant.   The kitchen is not open type, instead you can peek at the crew doing the ramen, as a slightly fragrant steam greets you from above.

Ordered the Shiromaru Motoaji, P 375
A creamy ramen with classic thin noodles. The noodle came with slices kikurage and spring onions.
The server asked me if I wanted the noodles soft, normal, hard. I wanted normal but the pesky server insisted that I order hard because that's how they eat it in Japan. (So much for choices, ramen Nazi) So I had mine hard. No upgrading to soft-boiled egg. I just wanted to taste the ramen soup if it is as advertised. I was also tempted to order a pork bun AKA cuapao but I'm just going to reserve it for my next visit.


The ramen arrived and held to its promise, it is light and flavorful but I should've stuck with my decision on the noodles. The hard noodles were good but these are not made for people in a hurry. The soup was indeed flavorful and it was made even better with bits of crushed garlic using the DIY presser on your table (again insisted by my server). To make it easy for you, this was Shio ramen with a fancier name. I slurped and sipped my soup and left with a smile.

It is hard to make a review based on one item alone.  After all the hype and Instagramming, plus the over-exaggerated OMG's, this ramen can indeed hold a noodle to other well-known brands; but given the number of ramen places that opened, the taste is just a bit familiar.

I'll be back soon, but I'm definitely not falling in line.

Check out my follow-up entry to this http://kainmanila.blogspot.com/2014/10/return-to-ippudo-or-how-i-dodged-long.html





Ippudo
3/F Mega Fashion Hall
SM Megamall
Budget: 400+ per person