I like to always try new things in most aspects of my life. So when new restaurants pop up in the Lower Mainland, I get pretty excited regardless of the cuisine. Ichigo Ichie is a ramen joint that opened up a few months ago in Steveston South of Richmond . It didn’t take much effort to convince the boyfriend to tag along for this food adventure since he’s a huge fan of ramen himself 🙂 His favourite ramen joint to date is still Taishoken but he’s always hopeful to find his next favourite with me. We invited J and L to join us for lunch as they reside in Richmond. When it comes to ramen, you’ll find that Vancouver is filled with both Japanese-owned and Korean-owned establishments. Ichigo Ichie is a Korean-owned operation, but I was still willing to give the place a try. As long as the broth is flavourful, toppings are tasty, and noodles are nice and chewy- I’m sold!
The restaurant is tucked in a complex just off of No.5 Road- the sign doesn’t help much as it is quite hidden and small. However, parking should be plenty!
We popped in around 12pm and the place was already pretty full! Diverse group of patrons getting their lunch fix 🙂
Menu
Standard bowls of ramen with additional side dishes and rice bowls. Price point here is competitive.
When you get seated, the waitress will give you an order sheet for you to fill out. Makes the service less informal but I quite like this system as you’re almost guaranteed that they won’t mess up your order since you can customize your bowl of ramen from the broth, choice of protein, and side dishes.
Interestingly enough, they take reservations!
Shichimi (chili pepper), Grinded Garlic, White Pepper
Mentai Rice Bowl ($3.95)At an additional cost, L got the mentai rice bowl. ‘Mentai’ translates to marinated spicy pollock roe. The taste is a combination of salty, savoury, fishy and a little spicy. L wasn’t a fan of this as it lacked the creamy richness and the rice was just subpar.
Gyoza (5 pcs $4.95) Japanese pan-fried dumplings should be juicy on the inside and golden brown and crispy on the outside. However, as you can tell from the photo the skin could have been pan fried a little longer for a crispier coating. The pork filling however was passable.
Mayu (Spicy; $11.50) with garlic black oil, green onion, seasoned egg, bean sprouts, deep-fried garlic, shiitake in tonkotsu broth. L got the Mayu – the broth had a heavy, unpleasant amount of garlic and pepper. She didn’t end up finishing it as the presence of garlic was too overpowering.
Shio ($9.75) Sea salt, green onion, seasoned egg, naruto maki, spinach, shiitake
Shoyu ($9.75) Soy sauce, green onion, seasoned egg, naruto maki, spinach, shiitake. Both boyfriend and I got the shoyu with pork (char siu) in tonkotsu broth. Personally, I thought the toppings were pretty random and did not complement the broth well. The broth itself lacked depth of a pork-base soup I come to expect from a great tonkotsu ramen broth. Noodles were a little overcooked- and the egg… darn it was overcooked and under seasoned as well.
Considering the fact that you don’t have to probably wait for a table- it’s a good option for a quick bite in the area but I would rather drive down to Vancouver downtown to get my ramen fix.
Location:
150-11060 No 5 Rd
Rating: 2.5/5
Service: 4/5
Price: $$
Reservation? Yes
Website: https://www.ichigoichieramen.com/
