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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.XoXoEV -
Ramen Fuss: My Ramen Nagi Tastexperience
Ramen places have been sprouting all over the metro like mushrooms. Nowadays we have a variety of really good ramen places to choose from as compared to a few years ago when the only ramens we could get where from the Japanese fastfood chains.Ramen Nagi is one such example of a nice ramen chain which has come to our PH shores. Although it is somewhat a fastfood chain but the restaurant has it’s roots in Japan and is dedicated to serving a really good bowl of ramen.
Since they are mainly a ramen place, there are only 4 variations of ramen that customers can customize once you get there: Butao King (tonkotsu broth), Black King (garlic and squid ink combo), Red King (spicy), and the Green King (cheese and basil). For some reason, my favorite among the 4 is the Black King one. I love how it taste with all that squid ink and al dente ramen noodles. They also serve some side dishes that go well with a bowl of ramen.
As of this writing I have made many visits to Ramen Nagi since it turns out my friends also love it. Basically this is a rundown of what I have eaten there and what I recommend. By the way, they don’t allow take aways in all their branches and this is because they don’t want the quality of their ramen lowered down. I always think I cannot finish one big bowl but I really do. Blame it on that rich and flavorful ramen broth! 🙂
For our side dishes, me and my friends almost order the same thing. We had their Nagi Star Salad. This is a refreshing salad with lots of crunch. It is composed of sliced cabbages and lettuce mixed together with some crispy fried noodles and topped with some sesame oil and a secret Ramen Nagi dressing. This is a really rich tasting salad but it is really good.
Next up, always on the table is their gyoza. They serve them perfectly cooked and piping hot all the time and we all just love it. I haven’t been disappointed with their gyozas ever. Really crispy bottom and soft and tasty insides.
I have also tried their Chicken Karaage and it is just delish. Crispy and very flavorful and the meat is so juicy inside. Kids would love this.
Now when you take your seat at Ramen Nagi you are immediately given a sort of paper checklist of how you want to customize your ramen. This is also a feature that I like very much because you can tailor fit your ramen to suit your tastebud demands for the day. Also, you can order extras like Tamago, green onions, noodles, and etc. They also have condiments in each table like pepper, sesame seeds, pickled garlic, and spicy bean sprouts.The first ramen bowl I tried in Ramen Nagi was their Black King and I immediately fell in love. It is spicy and rich but not “umay” as some would call it. It is also yummy with Tamago. The garlicky and squid ink taste really does it for me. This ramen is very flavorful and rich and one that you should try! I make sure to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top as well. This is one that I really love. A favorite of mine.
I also did try the Butao King and while it is also tasty and delicious as well with the soft chasu slices, somehow I find it not as rich as the Black King which I like. The broth is very milky though and really good as well. You cannot go wrong with this one.
Ramen Nagi really has a simplistic approach to a bowl of ramen by just having 4 variants and sometimes they have another flavor they rotate but it is limited to certain months. Here you won’t be confused to what kind of ramen to order and also I think just by having4 variants that they would really do their best to serve it at optimum quality at all times. Do check out Ramen Nagi for a ramen fix. I promise it won’t disappoint.XoXoEV -
Restaurant Feature: Bowls of Ramen at Mitsuyado Sei-Men
Ramen craze has been going around the metro ever since last year if I’m not mistaken, and foodies have been relentless in their search for the perfect bowl of ramen as well as ramen shops sprouting here and there. One such shop would be Mitsuyado nestled in the bustling Jupiter Street in Makati. It’s been getting rave reviews from ramen lovers and foodies so naturally I had to check it out.I went one Saturday night if I can still remember it right because of the delay this post has taken but it was with SinfulBombs and MommaBombs (both foodie enthusiasts). We ordered Japanese gyoza as appetizers and 3 steaming bowls of Japanese ramen – Chasyu, Tan Tan Men and Cheese Tsukemen.We all loved the gyoza they served us. Cooked just right and tasted really flavorful. We ordered a second serving of these lovable dumplings because they were good.
When our ramen bowls came, we were all excited and we tried out each of these ramens. MommaBombs had the tan tan men and we all loved it. It was spicy, tasted like curry and the noodles were al dente.
My Chasyu ramen was not really to my liking after all the hype Mitsuyado has created. My ramen was served to me lukewarm, almost cold and I did not like the taste much. I do not have fond memories of it but maybe a second visit is in order to re-evaluate this ramen.The Cheese tsukemen that SinfulBombs ordered was also not to our liking. The ramen noodles also arrived cold and the cheese looked like it had been sitting stagnant for a bit. It did not tickle our taste buds as much as the tan tan men had.
For that night we came to the conclusion that among the 3 ramen bowls we had, the tan tan men reigned supreme in taste. But who knows maybe a second visit will be a better experience. Not so impressed with Mitsuyado just yet.XoXoEV
exploring food forever! among other things…
