Ichicoro Ramen

I have been 3 times since they opened…1 night (was very busy but it was closer to opening) and twice for lunch! All 3 times I have had amazing service and food. just recently had the ramen salad. perfect portion and can def tell the noodles are homemade and fresh. and the cubanos… comes with 3 and those sticky buns holy delish! Drinks are amazing also… go see my buddy John behind the bar… he’s the bomb! cheers and enjoy!

Place itself had an absurd wait (not sure why tbh). It was hot. Was there even ac? The dining area is extremely limited. Prob the reason for the wait. They served room temp water… its Florida. Where is my ice? Seating was kinda awkward. Very crowded. Had my purse in my lap the whole time.
I ordered the champion ramen with added poached egg and nori. The extras costs u a bit more. The ramens itself ranged from about 12 to 16 $. Saying extra would be incorrect since it doesnt already come with it, but the addition of an egg was 2 $ and seaweed was $ 1. So my bowl of ramen was 19 $. Most expensive bowl of noodles ive had in my life. I can buy an instant pack of noodles from the asian market and add in my grilled shrimp or pork and egg etc myself and it wouldve been better and cheaper.
The food itself was good. Decent and edible but nothing special imo. Im asian so maybe its just because noodles are my life? Ive had better. It was good but not worth almost 20 $. Probably won’t be back but its a cute little place for the hype despite it being so small.

We love this place for a good bowl of ramen. I have came 3 times now and noticed they removed the seaweed that came with the ramen and increased the price. Because of this we will come a little less.
Overall the food is amazing. Staff is very friendly and it definitely has a hipster vibe when you walk in the music. Have not tried dinner yet but lunch has always been great!

The ramen dishes here are to die for. Although I didn’t enjoy the lunch menu as much, the dinner menu rocks! I highly recommend the miso broth… it’s rich, savory and delicious (especially when you mix egg into it). This place gets extremely busy and the wait can be quite long but the service is quick and the food is totally worth it. I do wish they made their noodles in-​house but aside from that, it’s the most authentic noodle place I’ve come across in this area. We’ve already been there three times and anticipate many more visits to come!

Oh Ichicoro… The townies and locals raved about your delicious ramen and I had to find out what it was about.
I was incredibly disappointed to find a menu of 16 – 20 $ bowls of awfully sounding, over complicated ramen options. I was also disappointed there wasn’t a tonkotsu ramen on the menu.
I ordered one with kimchi, bacon and chicarone simply because all of the other broths were miso or shoyu based. After three bites and slurps I was disappointed. The bacon is absolute overkill. The overpowering bitterness of the kimchi and the high salt levels of the bacon made for a disgusting dish. I get sweet and sour flavor profiles, but this wasn’t good.
The pork belly buns were okay.
Service was awkward. The water was served at room temp and the restaurant thermostats must’ve been set to 80. It was a pretty miserable dining experience. For $ 20 to sit in sweat and drink warm water, I’ll go to adventure island.
Boo.
Want good ramen? Drive to Orlando and eat at Sapporo, where they serve it up the REAL way. The classics. No bullshit. And all under $ 10.

**Update**
Third time is not the charm… Honestly don’t know what I expected this time around. No complaints about the seating got a table pretty quick but came at around 11 PM. Ordered a Miso Ramen with added spicy sauce and poached egg and a Pickled Edamame. The edamame is described as pickled and dressed in a vinaigrette, I expected sharp and tangy tasting pickled edamame but was underwhelmed by a flat cold been salad with large chunks of mushy green peppers and tasteless radish slices. Also got a Miso ramen, but I’d like to describe it as onion soup. The whole soup was hijacked by onions, every bite was filled with al dente white onions, there was definitely more onions than ramen noodles. I would have rather they floated a Gruyère covered croûton and called it French onion soup. My last review was a two star and on top of my above statements the reason why it dropped to a one star was because everyone in the restaurant could care less how we were doing. Never once was I asked how my meal was going or tasted our waitress was too busy dancing around the room and the bus boys were only interested in flipping the tables. They had better customer service the last two times I went, but now they are under a severe deficit of customer service. I really would like someone to take me to the restaurant that they gave a 5 star review, because I MUST be going to the wrong place with the same Ichicoro name and menu. I truly hope this isn’t what people accept as GREAT ramen.
I have been here twice now and both times have had less than stellar meals. The menu and the servers pedal a beautiful and enticing notion of ramen, but the product that ends up in front of you is lack luster and boring. The menu embellishes a whole lot when it comes to the flavors their ramen is supposed to provide. I’ve had their house ramen, their shoyu, and a special kimchi ramen. The servers promote a beautiful hunger inspiring description but the flavors they describe are indiscernible in the ramen, fresh citrus flavors in their 15 hour champon broth don’t shine through and are muddled and covered by the intense charred taste from the grilled shrimp. The shoyu is so subtle too not very flavorful. The kimchi ramen also underperformed, one would expect a nice kimchi flavored broth with a tang and heat, but it’s more like their miso broth with the addition of cabbage and again overpowered by the smokey bacon. The noodles were fantastic, a good textured noodle with nice bite, but they don’t produce them in house. I have been twice trying to give them a second chance, but i don’t know if I’ll make it for a third time when honestly a packaged ramen with your own addition of kimchi would shine a lot brighter than the ramen here.

We had a pleasant night out with friends at Ichicoro. The dine time reservation system used my Ichicoro worked well. We were seated promptly after arriving and ordering one drink from he bar (please note, not a full bar. Wine, beer, sake and sake creations only).
My husband had the SPICY KIMUCHI Ramen entrée which is comprised of shio tare, pork broth, applewood smoked bacon, mayu, ontama, bean sprout, chicharrones. He thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I had the VEGGIE Ramen w/​o Ramen. Yes, I understand this is a Ramen Restaurant, but I have dietary reasons that require I exclude the Ramen. The staff accommodated me with no problem, loaded me up with more veggies and I added a poached egg = DELICIOUS!

This is a cool looking place that serves tasty ramen. I tried the soya based ramen. It was good, but the serving size was pretty small. It came with a decent sized chunk of tender pork.
Parking is limited. Also, if you are dining alone, you’ll be eating at the counter.
Service is fast and reasonable.

I had read alot of positive reviews on this place so was excited to try it out. Little did I know that the menu is pretty different from lunch and dinner and all the items I wanted were on the dinner menu while I was there for lunch.
The menu was pretty limited but there were different options you could add to your plate. The ramen was very good and the broth rich, for my personally a little too rich.
I am not writing this place off just yet as I haven’t been able to return for the dinner menu. One concern with returning for dinner is the size of the place. VERY small and it been the trendy «it» place to go I am not sure I would be willing to wait long yet alone try to fine parking on the side streets.

I have been holding off on writing this review because I wanted to have enough experiences here to provide an objective review. I say that because my friends and I had been anxiously anticipating the opening of this Ramen bar since we first heard it was coming to Seminole Heights, and the wait felt like forever! When it opened, we were so happy to be there, so of course, everything was going to seem awesome. But after having been there a good several times, I can honestly say the owners have outdone themselves and I am so proud to share a neighborhood with this fine establishment.
The restaurant is small, intimate, and open. You can clearly see the kitchen from every seat in the house, and what you witness is pure art. These chefs work their butts off to give each patron a culinary experience that is, in a word, extraordinary. The dishes are plated beautifully and the flavors are absolutely delicious. I have tried most things on the menu, and from appetizer to ramen bowl to brothless noodles, this place nails every dish.
And I haven’t even gotten started on the cocktails. Don’t think that you’ll recognize all the ingredients in the cocktails. But it’s ok. Order one. Any one. And you will be so glad you did. A perfectly balanced cocktail is what you’ll get. My standing favorite is the Hero Water, for sure. Try it. You won’t be sorry.

This place is very trendy and quite frankly not for everyone. The venue is dining experience and there is snazzy bar if you’re waiting.
Just to clarify a few things this is not traditional ramen. Ramen is comfort food to Japanese and phở is to Vietnamese. With that said the food is good but a little pricey.
Get one of the ramens and upgrade. Get the egg and the seared pork. Seaweed too if you want to go all out. It will add a lot of depth and dimension to the dish. Traditional ramen usually has this without the upgrades. I really enjoyed the food and thought it was a tasty fusion and twist to ramen. One thing I wish they offered was variations to the noodles. Different types of noodles and different ranges of al dente.
One thing I hated was the spoons. I felt like I was stuck white version of what 19^th century Japanese used for a spoon. I understand the aesthetics but it is not efficient or elegant.
I did wait at the bar before my meal. It was a great experience with a happy hour special and little bites.
I did try to come for an early dinner and it did not work out. The bar was open but the dining room was not. Very disappointed but again this is not fast casual kind of place. Come with an empty stomach and an open mind. You’ll enjoy. And get the upgrade!

Channeling Brett N, our Community Manager: Why 4 stars? Because it’s the saltiest ramen I’ve ever had.
After having tried the ramen spot on Kennedy, NYC, Houston and Austin, I was so excited to try Ichicoro. First off, the parking is horrendous. The lot in front of the restaurant has a total of 6 spaces and 1 of them is handicap. There’s a lot next to the restaurant, but only a handful is Ichicoro’s parking. The rest of the parking is done on the streets in the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant.
The bar is the first thing you see when you walk through the door. It’s a very long bar, which surprisingly takes up almost half of the restaurant. This is where you can wait, get drinks while waiting and/​or have snacks. Dividing the bar space and the dining area is a wood grille wall. On the other side is where one can get the glorious ramen. We were given the option of sitting at a small table or at the bar. We chose the bar because our view would be the open kitchen, where the magic happens.
My bf and I were there during lunch so we asked for water while looking over the menu. The lunch menu is very small: 3 broth bowls, 1 dry ramen bowl, 3 rice bowls and 1 snack. I really wanted to try the Pork Steam Buns, but this item isn’t offered during lunch, so we got the CuBaoNo (cuban-​like meats with steamed buns). The nice thing about this dish is it comes with Tostones. I definitely liked the tostones better than the cubaono themselves. The cubaono were too cheesy for us and too different from the steam buns. Also, I like the buns light and fluffy, not pressed. The tostones are fried and quickly tossed in some slightly spicy dry chili flakes. They were crunchy on the outside, perfectly ripened inside (in this case, not ripened), and the addition of pepper flakes adds another dimension to them. I only wish they were more salty.
Well, instead of adding salt to the tostones, it seems like they added the extra salt to the broths. I got the Miso (pork broth) while my bf got the Shoyu (chicken broth). In my bowl, the broth is so rich and silky, the ramen noodles are cooked perfectly «al dente», the half egg is cooked just right, the yolk slightly runny, except the white part is salty, and the chasyu, OMG, is heaven in the form of pork belly. The chasyu is cooked until it almost falls apart and then sliced thick and grilled until brown and crisp. It’s unfortunate how salty our broths were. My bf and I couldn’t finish our bowls because of it.
Despite the saltiness, we can tell these are good bowls of ramen. We definitely will be back for another try, but this time during dinner so we can enjoy the other snacks.

The first time we drove by, we missed the place because, honestly, the sign looks more like a demolished sign pole with graffiti. Thankfully the inside doesn’t look run down at all. In fact, the place looks hip, with two big center tables that look like they are crafted from a giant piece of driftwood.
As we sat down i noticed the authentic, Japanese, bamboo ramen soup spoon. That’s a good sign.
Their lunch menu is very limited, and we were disappointed that many of the ramen, which pictures I saw on Unilocal,are not available. There were shoyu ramen, veggie ramen, ramen salad, and three rice bowls.
The bowls arrived, and one look at the eggs, and I can say this place is legit! The ajitama (marinated egg) has the most gorgeous yolk, lovely like a setting sun and teetering between runny and firm. The ontama (hot spring egg) is done right — so many places serve soft boiled eggs as ontama — with tender runny white.
Both the shoyu ramen and veggie ramen are great, though the miso/​tomato broth of the veggie ramen has a more complex, and interesting flavor.
I asked the waitress for some shichimi togarashi (seven-​spiced Japanese chili pepper powder) and was impressed when she replied that she has both ichimi and shichimi, and proceeded to bring me a generous amount, not in a bottle, but in a little dipping dish. Now, I’ve been to a Japanese restaurant where they brought a bottle of Badia black pepper. This along, proves that Ichicoro is the real deal!

This place is badass, the atmosphere is amazing.
I am giving it 5 stars, no because it was perfect, but it was exceptional and unique!
Just to set the stage, We were driving home from the hospital in the late afternoon, and my wife was hungry, and she asked it we wanted to try the «new ramen place.» Even though we go there just after 5:00 PM on a Wednesday, there were still a number of people inside.
* Note: parking is limited.
When you walk in you see the bar, which has a few local tap, wines, sake. Looks like a fun, tight hangout. Then you come into the main dining room, which looks more spacious than it appears from the outside. The open kitchen is clean and runs like clockwork!
The menu is definitely quality over quantity, and that is a good thing.
My wife and I got the following:
Apps:
— VEGGIE STEAM BUN (4*) — king oyster mushroom, eggplant-​miso
* My wife really liked it, not really my thing
— KARAAGE (5.0*+++) — marinated fried chicken, furikake, spicy garlic mayo
* The chicken was fried perfectly, and the spicy mayo was amazing. I don’t know what furikake is, but it must be delicious.
Ramens:
— CHAMPON (4.5*) — my wife got this, it was solid
— SPICY ABURA SOBA (4.5*) — I got this, and added the grilled shrimp, poached eggs, and spicy sauce. It was very good. There is a lot of stuff, and when it is made, it is not mixed together. Mix everything together, and allow the flavors to meld. Don’t get me wrong, this was very, very good, but I will say this:
* Even though the shrimp was grilled perfectly, it really wasn’t needed — there is enough going on (I was thinking at first glance that it needed some type of protein
* Maybe this is how it should be, but I though my noodles were a tad overdone.
Bar (4.5*):
— My 8.5 month pregnant wife had water, and I am on a one beer limit «just in case,» but the drink menu looks solid, and they have decent specialty beers. I had the Angry Chair Red Ale
Note: it didn’t matter to me, but the serving was a 12oz, not a full pint. The beer prices are a little high.
Atmosphere (5.0*++) and Service (4.5*): About as good as it gets. The feel is casual, neat and cozy. I imaging on weekend, it gets tight, which some people may not like. The service is attentive and prompt. Also, we got our food **super** fast, and our server and managers checked on us often, if anything maybe too often.
Overall — a five star experience and will be back.
I want to try other stuff on the menu.
This place is perfect for Seminole Heights!

Small, trendy interior. Lovely wait staff! Very small menu but that doesn’t stop the food from being amazing! I was disappointed when the waitress told me they don’t do substitutions. I don’t eat pork so I couldn’t have 4 out of the 5 ramen bowls they had.
I chose the veggie bowl and added some extras to my liking. I also ordered the chicken karaage. The karaage was very crispy and nicely salted. The sauce that accompanied the karaage was amazing! It added a nice spicy kick to the dish, I just wish there was more of it, like a lot more! As for the ramen, it had amazing flavor. However, I ordered the extra spicy sauce and it wasn’t spicy at all. I also ordered shrimp as an extra and the dish only had two pieces of shrimp in it. Not too big of a compliant since a ramen bowl is always crowded.
Now for the bad — the only thing I can really complain about was the heat. It was ridiculously hot in this restaurant. And for hot ramen soup to be a featured dish it really makes dining here very uncomfortable. It was so hot sweat was literally rolling down my back. I couldn’t enjoy my dining experience and had to take my ramen to go after just two bites. (I finished the rest as soon as I got home)
My overall experience was good and I would definitely want to come back. Next time I’ll try to wear next to nothing. =P

Friendly staff, and hipster atmosphere.
I super loved my dish. I didn’t enjoy how long it took to get my soda. Also that the water was not served with ice. The lunch menu was a lot smaller than expected.
However my dish rocked my world. I got the chicken rice bowl. that’s really a name I can’t pronounce with a spicy garlic sauce.

1^st off: Welcome to Tampa Bay #ramenarmy !
I counted down the days till this place opened, and dealt with the horrific 4 hour wait on opening-​day… held back on the review, because its not really fair to penalize a new spot for opening kinks… SO, here I am– 4 stars but really 4.5!
I haven’t had the opportunity to make it out to one of their awesome «one day only» menu surprise events but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that they do that.
Holding back on the 5 stars because… well this is NYC priced Ramen, and the servings really aren’t large. Im a small human and I had TWO full dishes once (the spicy miso ramen AND the spicy Abura– Soba).
Still, Im excited about this addition to SH. Tampa REALLY needed this!
Definitely would recommend!

Very unique atmosphere and menu. Thoroughly enjoyed the food and service. Also, music was on point. Parking is limited, but there was no wait. Would highly recommend and will be back again.
The flavors were exceptional. We ordered the veggie steam bun as an appetizer and it was delicious. There were many options that looked appealing and will try others for sure. We also ordered the veggie ramen and champion ramen. Both were tasty and aromatic.
The décor inside is pleasant with a natural and modern look and feel. Servers and staff were friendly and helpful. Definitely 5 Stars!

Ichicoro ramen
My experience at Ichicoro Ramen was a wonderful one! Let me first start by saying that the only ramen I’ve ever had came out of a little Styrofoam cup from the middle school cafeteria. So I don’t have any other ramen experiences to compare Ichicoro to. Nonetheless, I really loved it here.
Ichicoro doesn’t take reservations, but utilizes an app called «Dine time» where you can add your name to the wait list prior to arriving at the restaurant. We utilized this feature, and added our name at around 6pm — the app told me there were 14 parties ahead of me, and I received a text message shortly thereafter suggesting our table will be ready in about an hour.
We arrived right on time, and our party of 4 was promptly seated at the food bar. I loved this seat because I love watching the chefs in action!
The menu is pretty limited — they have 6 «snacks» (aka appetizers) and 5 ramen entrees. After some debate between the Karaage (marinated fried chicken) the Pork Steam Buns and the daily special «Cuban» steam buns, our group ordered the 2 latter dishes. Both were AWESOME. The pork steam buns contain pickles and a citrus sauce along with some tasty pork, and the bun is thick and fluffy. For the Cuban bun, the ingredients were what you find on a traditional Cuban sandwich… plus, they pressed the buns to make them more like a little cubanito sandwich. My favorite out of the two was the Cuban buns but both were outstanding.
For the main course, I ordered the Veggie Ramen and loved it. My husband ordered the Shoyu and another friend ordered the Champon and everyone was more than pleased with their choiced.
The service was great, the atmosphere is cool and the music, albeit loud, was perfect for the restaurant. I will DEFINITELY be back to Ichicoro soon!

I’m 30 years old and I still eat packaged ramen. Hey, it’s quick and cheap. Only in the last six months or so did I learn about the trend to elevate ramen. I was pretty excited. However, I did not get the chance to try out this craze. I had a taste of someone’s bowl at Takara, and it was quite good. So, I began my craving for a ramen bowl.
I had been reading all of the hype about Ichicoro Ramen, and was intrigued. It seemed to be a favorite among Unilocalers. I was a bit skeptical though, because I heard it was pricey and I do not go to Seminole Heights often. It just so happened I was at Generation Food Court, finding nothing to eat, and noticed Ichicoro was right across the street! I also noticed we were not the only ones from the festival to have the idea to have lunch there.
I was quite worried about the wait time because I heard it could be an hour or so. Walking in I saw a big crowd, and was worried. When checking in we were told the wait would be about 30 minutes. Not too bad. It ended up being less than that.
I was very surprised at how small the restaurant was. I thought there had to be more. The seating was wooden tables and stools, which were not the most comfortable. I also did not have a place to put my purse. There was also seating at the bar area in the other room, and some seating in front of the open kitchen.
Our server was so nice and friendly. Additionally, all of the servers helped each other out, refilling drinks and clearing drinks. The food did not take long to come out either. I learned they had just began opening for lunch, and the menu was very limited. There were choices of a few ramen bowls and rice bowls. I had ramen and Emilio M. had rice. We both liked ours well enough. I would have liked mine more if the bamboo shoots had been left out. They added an odd taste to the dish. The prices for lunch were not bad for lunch, but I think dinner is quite expensive.
Overall? I do not think I will go back. It was not anything special.