Restaurant Feature: Checking out Ippudo Manila at SM Megamall
Rainy days lately make me see bowls and bowls of ramen in my mind. For this write-up, we are going to be traversing our taste buds through the famous Ippudo. Their first branch here was opened a year ago I think if I am not mistaken at the SM Megamall. Ippudo is best known for their tonkotsu-based ramen. Tonkotsu is the broth made from pork bones. It has a creamy texture and is white in color. Ippudo is mainly known for this kind of ramen.
One slow Sunday afternoon, me and the girlfriends decided to check what the fuss was all about and we queued up to wait our turn to eat in Ippudo. Since they just newly opened at that time, they were also testing out some of their products and gave them out to their guests for free. (wink)
The servers gave us free Crispy Corn so we could all nibble on it while waiting for our ramens to be served. The corn was nicely fried and topped with paprika and seaweed. We loved it. It wasn’t oily but very lightly fried and a nice opening to a creamy ramen lunch.
We ordered one of their classics as well – Oroshi Ponzu Gyoza. It was their original pan-fried dumplings and they topped it with some grated radish and spring onions and served with their ponzu sauce. This was savory and yummy.
Now for the highlight of the lunch – our steaming bowls of ramen. As it was my first time there, I decided to go for their most traditional/original one. In this case it was the Shiromaru Motoaji ramen. This was the classic Hakata-style ramen. Ultra thin noodles served in their traditional tonkotsu broth with pork loin, kikurage, and some spring onions. A little bit of bean sprouts also graced this bowl of ramen. I liked it and would like to try it again. I think Ippudo and Ramen Nagi are quite comparable although I think Nagi is more adventurous in their offerings. Definitely deserves another sit-in soon!
They also gave us this product they were testing out. Chicken karaage in between their signature steamed buns with their Ippudo sauce. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender in the inside and to counter the fried component, it was served on a bed of shredded cabbage inside the steamed buns. This was quite filling and nice and I wouldn’t recommend eating this together with the ramen since you will be quite full after. I am not sure if they continued to serve this product.
So definitely another visit in the works and probably in their newly opened branch at BGC.
XoXo
EV
