IPPUDO Grand Menu Launch

November reminds me of Thanksgiving and the Grand Menu at IPPUDO, which is available starting November 2, is something to be thankful of.

IPPUDO, the well-known ramen restaurant from Japan, opened its door to Indonesian customers through its Pacific Place store a year ago. Since then, it hasn't stopped feeding its customers with surprises. The Grand menu is basically a compilation of the on-demand dishes from the previous menu. Remember the chef's special which stopped by IPPUDO's menu a while ago? Those were the qualification rounds.

This is Ruth, reporting the IPPUDO Grand Menu revelation.

So what's in the menu? We attended the sneak peek of what's on the list and here's what made it to the list of popular menu.

Teriyaki Chicken Salad

Teriyaki Chicken Salad (59k). Sweet and spicy for the health conscious, this green appetizer mix wasabi and teriyaki, two of the well-known Japanese delicacies. The dish is great for a fresh start while still leaving spaces for the ramen.

Tsukune Balls

Tsukune Balls (48k). IPPUDO Regional Operations Consultant, Takashi Mikami, described the dish as chicken potato balls, hard on the outside but soft on the inside. Infusing a hint of Japanese culture with the soft chicken bone inside each balls. It comes with pasteurized raw egg on the side, to be used as a sauce or a dip. Some might prefer without the egg, so give the original sweet taste a chance and find out which one do you like best. We can't decide but ended up dipping the balls into the raw egg.

Chicken Teba Gyoza

Teba Gyoza (48k) gives chicken wings an upgrade. "I observed Indonesians love chicken wings very much," Mikami said. "For this dish, we removed the bones and filled the wings with our special stuffing." This special stuffing include Indonesians' favorite chili, cabe rawit. Appeared in small cuts for extra spice. "For Japanese, Spicy is spicy but for Indonesians spicy means very spicy," explains Mikami. Teba Gyoza is popular in Malaysia as well.

Rainbow Ebi Tempura Roll

Rainbow Ebi Tempura Roll (70k) is sushi with bright colored tobiko toppings: black, red and green. The green one is created with wasabi. Crunchy shrimp tempura is wrapped with colorful fish roe.

Sake Mentai Rice

Sake Mentai Rice (49k) is described as rice topped with grilled minced salmon and cod fish roe, we would prefer to call this dish "a perfect main course" instead of appetizers simply because its taste and size is right for women who don't want to eat to much but still want to be full. It's delicious beyond belief, and despite the sticky rice and mayonnaise mix they're using, this dish isn't overwhelming.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (48k). If you prefer sour than sweet, just because the ramen makes you full, this dessert is perfect. Fresh homemade strawberry yogurt served in transparent glass arrived at the end of our meal. Somehow there are still space for it. 

Matcha Creme Brûlée

Matcha Creme Brûlée (48k). What's Japanese dessert without matcha, right? This one is quite a surprise. Rich creamy custard topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel and green tea. The green tea balances the sweet creme brûlée so we're sure you can finish this one too, especially if you're a green tea fan.

Following their chicken ramen launch earlier this year, the dishes served that night were all halal, adding more choices to the non-pork selection. Answering Indonesian customers' demand, the restaurant takes halal food concept seriously, separating the chopsticks and bowl used for halal food with the ones used for the pork ramens. Several chopsticks exchange happened when the ramen are served and those with pork ramen received a new pair. 

Takashi Mikami showing off the takeaway pack for ramen

Another good news for the night is the revelation of the take away menu. After months of putting together a way to pack their ramen and other dishes without compromising the taste and quality, finally IPPUDO is ready to serve takeout. Not seeing your favorite dish on the take away menu yet, don't worry, according to Amanda Sihombing, IPPUDO Indonesia Marketing Manager, they're still working on more dishes because each dish is unique and require specific package for take out.

So, let's be patient and wait for the Grand Menu.

Where is this?
Pacific Place 5th Fl. #5.37
Jl. Jend. Sudirman kav 52-53 (SCBD), Jakarta 12190
Tel: 021-57973339
www.ippudo.co.id