Ramen and a Relaxing Day

 

What a beautiful and relaxing Sunday—perfect enough to be lazy and enjoy a huge bowl of ramen!

It’s been a week since the snow stopped falling. The ice on the roads of Fukagawa City started melting; leaving a shiny, slippery ground—not an advisable idea to go out for a walk…but many people, mostly elders, still made an effort to enjoy the freezing air. Shingo and I thought it would be a waste to spend the entire day sitting in our kotatsu, so we drove to Komeri, a newly-built warehouse store in the city, to buy some stuff. After that, we headed for lunch at our favorite ramen shop, Ichikura. 

Ramen Ichikura, Fukagawa City, Hokkaido

Shingo introduced me to this ramen shop a few years ago when I was living in Sapporo. It is located just across Riceland Michi no Eki. It has a beautiful and cozy atmosphere, with huge windows that allows us to view the mountains and the open road from outside, while sipping the hot, delicious ramen. The first flavor that I tasted was their signature dish, Ichikura Ramen, which is topped with a load of chopped scallions. It may look ordinary from the picture, but when you start digging, you will find a load of other ingredients below such as boiled egg, bamboo shoots, and thin slices of chashu.

We often pair it with 6 pieces of gyoza, which is soft and tasty. Sometimes we eat a huge bowl of chahan (fried rice), that we usually share together, along with the gyoza and a huge bowl of ramen. Shingo often drove me here to dine before I went back to Sapporo, but now that we live together in Fukagawa, I do the honor to take the wheel and let him enjoy a bottle of beer.

The bowls are filled with rich ingredients that we never fail to eat them all.

Because it’s one of my favorite flavors, I chose this dish again today, and ordered the same 6-pieces of gyoza. Shingo ordered a simple shio (salt) ramen.

The restaurant is usually packed during lunch time, from 11am until 1pm, so if you want to try one of their delicious meals, I suggest you go there 5 minutes before the opening time or after 1pm.

Since I tried this restaurant, I never took the time to try other ramen shops in Fukagawa. It’s sad that there are very few places here that have great ramen; in fact, I got so spoiled by this place because it is also occupied by warm-hearted staffs. If you are a foreigner who want to venture out an all-Japanese ramen menu, this is the place for you. But don’t worry too much because if you can’t read kanji well, the menu has photos for you to point at just in case, and the staffs will be happy to help you.

Ramen Ichikura

Address: 〒070-0031 北海道旭川市１条通８丁目１０８ フィール旭川 3階

Google Link: https://goo.gl/maps/kRTEgodDEkyr7RaQA

Food: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

Location: 🌟🌟🌟☆☆