Sept. 28, 2023

While the new IchiFuji combines the best of Leon Teng’s other restaurants, it also features something new to Sioux Falls.

The restaurant at 1609 E. 10th St. offers an extensive menu of Japanese ramen and Korean fried chicken, drawing on the offerings of Ramen Fuji and Oppa Chicken. The new specialty, however, is Korean corn dogs.

The Korean corn dogs are on the appetizer menu, but with two in an order, they’re a meal.

They’re different from a typical carnival corn dog. The top part is mozzarella, and the bottom part is half of a hot dog. The breading comes in a choice of three flavors: panko, crushed ramen or potato, which has chunks of the vegetable. The fried corn dogs are dusted in sugar and drizzled with ketchup and mustard.

“In the future, we might have more flavors and toppings,” Teng said.

IchiFuji offers six flavors of Korean fried chicken, which come as traditional or boneless wings. Options are soy garlic, honey garlic, sweet spicy, hot spicy, Snow Cheese –described as a lightly sweet and cheesy flavor — and Galbi, which is a sweet, savory and smoky sauce with green onion and sesame.

Korean-style wings are thin-battered and fried twice to give them a light crispiness. The sauce is brushed on by hand, so it’s not too heavy.

Wings served at Oppa Chicken

The ramen offerings include customer favorites from Ramen Fuji and new flavors, including a vegan version of tonkotsu ramen. That type of ramen typically is made with a pork broth, but the vegan offering has a plant-based broth. It’s also served without the traditional fish cake and egg.

The menu includes other Japanese dishes such as donburi, katsu, curry, fried rice, yakisoba and yakiudon.

Appetizers range from edamame and egg rolls to pork buns and shrimp shumai.

The building was the longtime home of Taco John’s and most recently was Kabab King. The Teng family changed the color of the front from golden yellow to gray and painted the inside walls in new colors.

Wallpaper in one of the two dining areas features anime graphic art, and posters show some of the menu items.

The restaurant offers seating for about 50 customers, with a mixture of tables and booths.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.