Taiwan won’t have just one – aside from the flagship Taipei store, Ichiran Ramen may open more branches.

▲ Ichiran’s flagship Taipei store in Taiwan. (Photo / Huang Shih-yuan)

Reported by Huang Shih-yuan / Taipei

On May 19, Ichiran Ramen announced that its flagship Taipei store in Taiwan will officially open at 11:00 AM on June 15. However, when Ichiran Ramen’s president, Yoshitomi Yoshitomi, was interviewed by TVBS last year (2016), he mentioned that there would only be one store in Taiwan and that no additional branches would likely be opened. Nevertheless, Hanai Iori, who oversees Ichiran’s overseas operations, revealed that aside from the Taipei flagship, the possibility of opening more branches has not been ruled out.

In order to achieve the same taste as the stores in Japan, in addition to setting up a noodle-making factory in Taiwan and stationing “noodle-making artisans” locally to adjust recipes daily based on temperature and humidity, the soul of the ramen – the broth – is simmered in Japan and then flown to Taiwan. However, Hanai Iori stated that in the future, it might establish a central kitchen similar to the one in Hong Kong, allowing the broth to be made locally in Taiwan and supplying more outlets. This seems to indicate that Ichiran Ramen may have more than one branch in Taiwan.

The ramen ticket vending machine is a hallmark of ramen shops in Japan, and most Ichiran branches in Japan have them – customers take a ticket upon entering and hand it to the staff. However, overseas branches, including those in Hong Kong, New York, and Taiwan, do not have these ticket machines. Hanai Iori explained that this is because credit card usage is more common overseas, so manual payment is used instead. It is currently known that the flow at the Taipei flagship store is to first order, then be seated, and then pay, with separate entrances and exits.