IPPUDO Indonesia

Yey !! Finally Ippudo has opened their first store in Indonesia and in Jakarta, so glad to hear that as Ippudo has a really delicious ramen, I've tried before at Singapore and I think they're super delicious, so when they're in Jakarta I have a high expectation about them, and just can't wait to try their awesome ramen, well Ippudo is located at Pacific Place Mall, I think that's a strategic area in Jakarta, so I came here last two weeks by dinner and luckily the queue wasn't that long because they haven't opened yet :p

Why? Because they still have an operation time, for lunch from 11am to 3pm and for dinner from 6pm to 9pm, but as I know now they already open from 11am to 10pm regularly. So whenever you want this ramen just go here, well Ippudo is really well-known in Japan itself, there's a history of Ippudo Ramen in the store, and they also the winner of Champion TV in ramen edition (one of my favorite TV's show) they have a very-very long story.

Ippudo was first started in Fukuoka, Fukuoka by Shigemi Kawahara, the CEO of Chikaranomoto Company. "Ippudo" in direct translation means "one wind hall", and this is named because at the time, there were dark clouds over the Kyushu ramen industry, and the founder CEO Kawahara intended to "blow wind and revolutionise the era".

The first restaurant opened in 1985, in the Daimyo District of Chuo Ward, in Fukuoka City. Gradually the number of restaurants expanded from regional areas to the whole of Japan, mainly in the Kanto and Kansai regions. In the year 2000 as a tie-up with Seven Eleven a cup noodle version was made by Nissin Foods.

In 2008 the first overseas restaurant opened in New York City's East Village, with another location in Midtown West opening in 2013. 2009 saw Ippudo expand into Singapore with a restaurant in the Mandarin Gallery section of the 5-star Mandarin Orchard Singapore hotel, while a second restaurant, Ippudo Tao, was opened in 2010 at UE Square. In 2013, it was re-branded as Ippudo SG at Mohamed Sultan. On 18 July 2011, Ippudo officially opened their Hong Kong branch in Silvercord, Tsim Sha Tsui.

In 2014 Ippudo will open its first European restaurant in Central Saint Giles in London and of course now in Jakarta !! That's a short history journey of Ippudo and now they've opened their very first store in Indonesia and for sure they got a really positive responses. In Pacific Place they located at level 5, next to Kintan restaurant, I think they're not really big but they have a big area for the queue :p 

The decoration was great too, I love their lamps and even they're not too big they can make this dining area so comfortable and classy with all ornaments and of course they have a super great service, all the staffs were well trained and exactly how to explain their products in detail, that's an important point, and they can give me a recommendation here, as they have a wide variety of menu, so here's some of the menu that I tried ;)

>> Rooibos Tea

IDR 20.000

This is a special tea from South Africa, and it's really well-known around the world due to its high level of antioxidants, low level of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves.Rooibos also contains a number of other phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones which help our body to metabolize the fat and cholesterol. By the way, Rooibos tea only served hot ;)

>> Ippudo Pork Bun

IDR 28.000

To start my dinner I chose Pork Bun, oh yesss I love pork so damn much and especially this pork bun, juicy braised pork belly served with Ippudo's special sauce and this is one of Ippudo's best seller around the world, they have a very soft bun, with melted pork belly in my mouth combined with sweet and salty sauce, there's also a lettuce to give a freshness in this pork bun, oishi ! 

>> Spicy Shrimp Mayo

IDR 42.000

My favorite dish that night ! Spicy shrimp mayo. lightly battered and deep fried succulent shrimps with our homemade spicy mayonnaise dip, yes they're deep fried, but the coating was really light, they also used this just to prevent the oil absorbed much in the shrimp, so the shrimp will so juicy and not oily, the shrimp was perfect ! and the spicy mayo also give extra sensation with their sweet, sour and spicy taste, you should try this seriously, fully recommended !

>> Shiromaru Special

IDR 90.000

This is Ippudo's original tonkotsu broth, this pork broth soup was cooked more than 15 hours to get the best taste and served with ultra thin noodles, pork loin, bean sprouts, kikurage and spring onion, it's a classic Hakata-style ramen and yes I order the special one, so there'll be extra salted soft-boiled egg, pork loin, pork belly and seaweed, I think nothing better than pork ramen. I love their pork belly and texture of the noodle also their tamago, but I feel something missing in the broth, just not as rich as I expected.

>>Karaka Tamago

IDR 85.000

Another special ramen here, the hot and spicy one because the original tonkotsu broth combined with spicy miso, cashew nuts, bean sprouts, ground pork and of course salted soft-boiled egg ! Personally I prefer this than Shiromaru, the extra spicy give a different sensation and more salty yet tasty, but I don't like the texture of this noodle, so it's better if you replace it with ultra thin noodles, but if you the one who don't like hot and spicy dish, better don't order this, because it's quite strong in chili powder and oil, but I love it ! 

Well, Ippudo has a really great taste, but it's lower than my expectation, but the price here was more reasonable than another country, if I'm not mistaken, they charged 20 dollars in Singapore, but Ippudo has a really great pork belly I think, so for you ramen lovers, yes you should try this ramen, and maybe can be your favorite Hakata-style ramen.

Stay Hungry,

Filipus Verdi Danutirto Tanu - @filipusverdi

Ippudo Indonesia

Pacific Place Mall 5th floor,

Jl. Jend Sudirman, SCBD

Jakarta Selatan 12190

Tel. (021) 57973339