The king of ramen lands in Barcelona: from regional pride to global fame

BarcelonaNow that the cold weather has undeniably arrived, a steaming bowl of soup sounds appealing. We could recommend places to get a bowl, like the game soup at Alkostat or Haddock, which offers a gargantuan themed menu on Fridays—wonderful and definitely not for those who have to work in the afternoon. However, if what we're looking for is a quick, affordable, and filling option, we have ramen, which is also designed so that, as many Japanese people do, you can devour it on your own. And speaking of the ramen scene in Barcelona, there's just been a very significant opening: Ippudo.

Ippudo is a family-run chain from Fukuoka. What does this mean? It means it's not a franchise; the same family manages all the restaurants. In Europe, they have five in London and five in Paris. And they'd been considering opening one (or more) in Barcelona for some time. Why here? Because it's not a capital city, just as they don't come from the capital of Japan, and because it's a seaside city. At this restaurant, located at 164 Diputació Street, you can find the specialty of their region, Hakata, which is based on a white broth made with pork bones. But before we get to the menu and their affordable lunch special, a little history.

Ippudo was founded in Fukuoka in 1985 and is a globally recognized brand. Shigemi Kawahara is its founder and is nicknamed... king of ramenThe reason is that he has won the Ramen Chef Championship three times. This led to a television program crowning him the best ramen master and made him extremely popular in Japan. In 2008, he ventured to open his first establishment outside his country, choosing New York City. There, long lines outside are a hallmark of the restaurant, as are the... Hirata bunsThese are steamed buns filled with various ingredients, a dish invented there and named after the cook who created them. You can also try them in Barcelona.

In fact, the new restaurant offers many of their signature dishes, as well as creations designed specifically for Barcelona. For example, the recipe for... tantanmenThis is one of the ramen options they offer, and they made it for us. The menu includes the original from their region (in Japan, there are considered to be 30 different types of ramen). This one is called... ShiromaruThe broth simmers for 48 hours. There is also a version AkamaruIn this version, the base is the same, but a blend of spices is added, giving it an intense flavor and a touch of heat. There's also a vegetarian version, and a chicken and soy broth version that's very trendy right now. For the bravest and those who love spice, you'll find the tantanmen as previously mentioned.

Aside from the noodle soups (these vary in thickness depending on the ramen chosen), the restaurant also has an excellent karaagewhich is the name given to fried chicken, large chicken wings, or a mackerel salad. The weekday lunch menu costs 15 euros and includes one of the steamed buns or fried chicken, a bowl of ramen of your choice, and a drink. A very good deal. They don't take reservations, so just show up and wait if there's no space.

Other steaming new things

Apart from the opening of Ippudo, we must remember that in Barcelona there are other places where they serve good ramen. One of them is Kobuta, which has two locations in the city.One in Sants and another on Gran Via. Plus, there's the original, the first place that popularized ramen in Catalonia and forced us to queue in the street. It's Ramen-Ya Hiro. Catalans try not to queue much, but we've queued for this soup plenty (this one and the DelaCrem ice cream line). However, the restaurant now accepts dinner reservations, and it's highly recommended to have one. And, Finally, the Shoronpowhich has just opened its second location. Besides the one in Gràcia, it has a new one at Avenida Roma 1, very close to Sants station. This second space is larger than the one on Calle Doctor Rizal, which is always packed.