Ippudo

Ippudo was the best meal that we had on this most recent trip to the west coast, bar none. The whole experience was great. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The food was superb. The buns were so tasty, I wanted to get another set of 3 on our way out the door. The pork and shrimp were my favorite. The ramen itself was a delight. I've become accustomed to heavier ramen broths, so the bonito broth was a nice light surprise. I was able to get through much more of the bowl and enjoy more noodles than I usually can. I really appreciated that you could add different toppings to your bowl and especially that you could get more noodles!

We discovered Ippudo during Memorial Day weekend. My sister and BIL are huge fans of the NYC location. We were there for the next two days. The first night, I had the Classic ramen. It had good flavor but I felt like there could be more but I was happy with it being light in flavor. The two pork buns that were ordered the first time, had two pieces of pork in each bun. I didn't have any but I was told it was good. My sister said the corn was okay and the fries was just regular fries (I think the fries are only at this location). The next day when we returned. I figured I would try the buns. I ordered the pork, ebi katsu, mushroom bun. The ebi katsu was great. The mushroom and pork only had one piece inside so it lacked filling, otherwise it would have been great. The cilantro salad was a bit overwhelming in cilantro so it didn't feel as balanced. My sister and BIL says it's 80% close to what it is in NYC but they figured it's the closest location beside SF. I returned a few nights ago with some friends who wanted to try it out. I had Akamaru Modern ramen which had more flavor than the Classic. It's about 2% spicy so it is tolerable. My friend had the Shiromaru Veggie and she found it to be too bland for her taste. Another friend loves spices and got Karaka Spicy. She ended up putting more spice oil in her ramen (a lot). It was a good experience having tried it three times to see which dishes are the ones to order.

I’m an Ippudo fan, so everywhere I go I have to try the local Ippudo. Came here around 3:30pm and got a nice table at the window. The server (original Japanese lady) was very friendly. We ordered shishito (peppers), garlic edamame, takoyaki, pork bun, karaage chicken bun, chicken donburi (rice bowl) and the karaka ramen (spicy). All of the food was very good. The atmosphere in the Ippudo is very nice. And I like all decoration linked to ippudo’s around the world. Later the waitress told me this is because this restaurant is the 100th Ippudo restaurant which was opened. I’ll come back when I’m in the neighbourhood.

Amazing delicious ramen place. The broth tastes amazing and you can choose the hardness of the noodles. The noodles came out perfect. I ask for them "hard". I would recommend the soft egg topping as it was very tasty. Both the spicy and normal broth were super great. I would highly recommend stopping by. The waiters were nice and attentive and the interior was clean and modern with a Japanese flair.

A bit speechless. We drove all the way down from Santa Barbara craving Ippudo ramen. Hands down, the worst service and the worst dining experience we have ever encountered at this chain location. Upon entering the restaurant, my daughter wanted to get seated at the couch section of the dining room. Seeing that there was only a group of 4, at the time, in a dining area that seats over 90 people. We didn't think that this was a problem. Of course, we asked our server Alex if this was ok and he flatly refused to have us seated at that section. We tried to ask again after we put in our order and he said "that section is reserved for singles only". I looked around again and there was only 7 people in the entire restaurant. Then comes our food. First, the karaage. It looks as if the life has been fried out of the chicken. And then, the shishito peppers. Lifeless and sogged with oil. Not a hint of crunch. And finally, the ramen. Decided to stick with the classic. It was ok. Except for the hair that was found in my ramen! Gross. From a well established Japanese ramen shop, I expected more. And while we were eating we saw another family come in and got sat exactly at the table we wanted to sit! Thinking to myself, "I thought that was seating for singles only!" Bad service makes even good food taste bad. To begin with, our food was not at all good and made the entire experience disheartening. This marks my last visit at Ippudo. Unfortunately, the problem with most chain restaurants is that, after time, they loose the essence of 真心 that they had in the beginning when they first started that made them popular.

I've waited months for this establishment to open up in Santa Monica! After walking by many times I was happy to stumble upon their soft opening happening tonight. I enjoyed the ramen the most. Offering up perfectly firm noodles, and a delicious tonkotsu broth which had me slurping up the whole bowl; this is one dish I will be ordering again! My table and I also ordered a plate of the 3 Baos (Which you can mix & match). We chose the Chicken, Pork and Ebi (Shrimp Patty) which were all good but a bit pricey at $4 per bun. My only disappointment during the meal were the two very thin slices of pork in my bun. The other two had a generous portion. Overall had a pleasant experience, service was good and I really enjoyed the modern Japanese interior inside. Would definitely recommend coming here over ordering the instant Ippudo noodles online (I've had both...I was desperate for a taste) and of course nothing can compare to the real thing. Follow @heykatbabe on Instagram for more pics/reviews

Dined here during the first few months of opening this Ippudo location Service was enthusiastic but perhaps a tad heavy handed Ramen was okay. Noodles were tasty but not memorable. The broth’s taste was subtle. At first, I was surprised by its soft profile, because I’m used to heavy soups, but it did grow on me. I’ll give it another chance.

The ramen was super tasty and the service was fast and incredibly friendly, attentive, and charismatic. It was my friend’s first time trying ramen and she loved it. Not too salty and very flavorful! My only critique is that I didn’t think the buns were as good as the ramen and a bit overpriced. Other than that, I highly recommend this place.