Fukuoka Trip 1 - Nakasu+Ichiran Ramen - 福岡旅行１-中州＋一蘭ラーメン

I'm back from my short but sweet trip to Fukuoka - It was great, i got to see a lot of old friends and tried to pack as many of my favorite things into one weekend as possible. It'll take me a while to prepare it all! 昨日福岡の速旅行から香港まで帰った。とても楽しかった！長間友達を見て好きな所へ行った。写真一杯を撮った。ブログ書く大変ですよね！何所から始まる？初夜の活動-一蘭の美味しラーメン！

Where to start?   ...Let's start with the first thing I did on the first night - Ramen at Ichiran.

I checked into my cheap but not so great business hotel near Hakata Station and called my friend じゅ-chan...  we made plans to meet up after she closed up her shop for the night (so I decided to take a 1.5 hour power nap!)　ホテルに着いた後じゅちゃん,長間友達を連絡した、1時に彼女は福岡の中洲で会った：

At 1am I walked over to meet her - I walked through the area known as Nakasu... which is Fukuoka's version of Kabuchi-cho (and/or Mos Eisley)  Because it was Friday night, it was rather crowded, as you can see.  中州は歌舞伎町一寸同じ。。。金曜日から深夜1時にけど、人まだ一杯居た。

We made a bee-line for the nearest Ichiran(一蘭) Ramen restaurant.  Its my favorite place to go for Hakata Ramen (the ramen that kicks all other ramens' a$$).    Long time Etchy blog readers will remember this place - not only does it have delicious ramen, but it also has a rather quirky design...　じゅちゃんと一緒食事した。。。一蘭ラーメンを食べた（僕は博多ラーメン大好きから）。

The one in Nakasu had a line (even at 1 in the morning), so we decided to go to the nearby one in Tenjin, its in more of a business district area, so its less crowded at night - most Ichiran locations (the ones not inside of shopping centers at least) are open 24 hours...)

中州の一蘭は人多かった、それから天神の店まで行った。5-10分だけかかります。

Note in both of the above pictures that there's a ticket machine next to the door.  You prepay for your menu selections (ramen, beer, tea, extra noodles, egg, etc) and get a ticket.　このところオフィスビルの法が多から、週末深夜時人あまりない。

僕の外国友達為に、一蘭の面白システムを案内している。お外で切符を買いえなければなりません：

(This is a picture of it  i took several years ago - 何年前撮ったの写真です)

Rather than just a counter like the typical ramen restaurant,  here each person gets their own private booth.  A partition seperates you from the people next to you and there's a curtain in the back.  You get a form -- using the pen tied down to the counter by a string, you can select EXACTLY how you want your ramen... with or without onions,  with or without pepper, soft or firm noodles,  oily broth, etc.  次は用紙で如何やった準備を選べなければなりません。

CLICK THE TOP RIGHT TO ZOOM THE PICTURE TO SEE A MORE READABLE VERSION Since i eat here often, I know to ask for the English version for the form (they have Chinese and Korean too)　英語のメニュも有る（韓国語と中国語も！）

When you finish with the form, you press the red button and a mysterious pair of hands (the guy or girl behind the counter) come and take your form and your vending machine ticket... like 1 minute later they bring you your customized ramen and close the curtain.  Pretty much everything you need is right there - water and chopsticks... napkins are dispensed on the wall behind you.　用紙書いた後、ブトンを押しえなけり場なりません。スタフは用紙と切符を取る。半分後あなたのラーメンをくれる。

i usually go for less fat and firmer noodles, with no pepper of course.

じゅ-chan likes it spicy... (note the 'no fall-in' spoon design too).

じゅちゃんは辛が好き、僕はたべない。

Quite delicious of course!  I can't wait to go back during my next trip to Japan (don't worry, even though its a local place, they have some locations in Kanto and Kansai areas as well...)

Actually I have blogged about this place many many times over the years... I really want to do a full blown documentary about it sometime... explain all the interesting details I've managed to figure out in one place. (I admit it... one time I stuck my camera behind the curtain and took some pictures to see what it looks like back there...)

もちろん美味しかった。福岡に居なたら、心配しないで下さい。関東と関西に一蘭店も在るよ！