Kain Manila's 8 Favorite Ramen Places

What could be better than a hot bowl of freshly prepared noodles? The flavorful soup plus the long noodles are not just epic comfort food, they're also a testament on how meticulous details go into every flavorful bowl of hot, piping goodness enjoyed around the world.

Here are our 8  go-to places for that ramen fix:

8. Kokoro Ramenya

Started by the ex-chef of  Shinjuku, Kokoko has some of Shinjuku favorites, and a Hakata ramen to die for. Ramen is priced just right and can be shared. The place serves more than just noodles with some classic Japanese classic dishes like Tempura. And their fried rice is insanely good.

The Hakata Ramen has a creamy soup base, not as creamy as Santouka's but definitely a hit among ramen enthusiasts and foodies alike

Don't miss: Fried California Maki, Fried Rice, Hakata Ramen.
Pricing about P 280 per bowl, Hakata Ramen cost about Php 380 per bowl
Update: The original one in Roxas Boulevard is already closed but there's another branch in Fisher Mall, QC 

Hakata Ramen now

Fried Rice

Shoyu Ramen

7. Ukkokei Ramen Ron

Love 'em or hate them, Ukkokei has adhered to strict standards  over the years. You've heard of the horror stories and the snootiness of their Japanese Chef. But this ramen place named after the a Chinese fowl still earns its wings among ramen aficionados.

Don't miss: Tantanmen (only 40 bowls per day), Gyoza (others love this, I feel its overrated)
Pricing about: P 380 - 420 per bowl

Miso Butter Corn

Tantanmen

6. Ramen Santouka Hokkaido

I keep going back to Santouka because the best Shio Ramen is here hands down.
I love simple flavors and Santouka delivers, whether its in MOA or Glorietta,
Some say the quality has gone down but I beg to differ. They have removed the Small, Medium and Large portions from the sets. But I love a good bowl of steaming hot ramen and pork cheeks.

Must Try: Shio Ramen, Pork Cheeks, Ebi Furai
Pricing: About P 380/ bowl and 500+ for the set, which includes rice and viand

Shio Ramen Set

Kara Miso Ramen, spicy and creamy

Ebi Furai

5. Ryu Ramen and Curry
Ryu keeps coming up in my lists. Why? because the place serves up sulit portions,
its value for money goodness, without shortchanging you  with the add-ons.
The Shoyu Ramen is pure love, with generous helpings of Chasyu and Menma (bamboo shoots)  and the tamago. Catch them at SM Jazz Mall or UP Town Center
 
Must Try: Tamanegi (Fried onion strips with seafood) Shoyu Ramen

Shoyu Ramen

Tamanegi Php 175, don't miss this

Chashu Ramen Php 390

4. Ramen Kuroda

How can you make ramen taste good and keep it affordable at the same time?
The people behind Ramen Kuroda knows the answer. Whether its their full restaurant at BF Paranaque or their takedown ramen places, Kuroda offers delicious tasting ramen at prices you'll love. Their ramen goes as low as Php 180 at their ramen joints in Aseana Pasay and RCBC Makati

Must try: Aka Ramen, a mildly spicy Hakata ramen with a strong array of flavors, Kuro Ramen, a creamy soup ramen with fragrant garlic oil

Kuro Ramen from their BF resto

Aka Ramen from their newly opened Aseana branch

Kuro Ramen from Aseana branch

3. Ippudo

Ippudo came to the ramen craze a bit late, but this international chain is no greenhorn when it comes to ramen. Every bowl is indeed ramen perfection and seamless to a point it looks art-directed. The flavors are like a katana blade, subdued at first then it cuts you before you know it. The long lines at Megamall says it all. The question is when do they open a new branch to satiate the people's craving for ramen?

Must Try: Akamaru Shinaji ( Red Sea) slightly spicy ramen with a strong hint of garlic and miso paste. Ippudo Pork Bun - this is Chinese Cuapao with a Japanese twist, yum!

Akamaru Shinaji

Pork Bun

2. Ramen Nagi/ Butao

2 Words: Black King!
Expensive, quirky ramen place that serves excellent ramen.
I don't know how they make the bowl of darkness into a delicious pit of umami.

Must Try: Black King, Gyoza

Black King

Gyoza

 1. Ramen Yushoken

Probably the reigning ramen king in town, hard to go all the way to Molito, Alabang and find long lines of people anxiously waiting for their divine ramen. This is not the most kid-friendly place, the service sucks, sharing of ramen is also frowned upon. Ramen can't be brought home or taken out, and you're given a few minutes for the smoke to settle and eat the ramen at its best temperature. Everything is on the menu is spot on.

Must try: Shio Ramen, Chjcken Karaage, Gyoza, Tsukemen

Gyokai Tsukemen

Shio Ramen

Gyoza

Chicken Karaage

What's your favorite ramen place?


Note: This list is compiled from my different posts on ramen.

Ramen Kuroda BF Paranaque***

Ramen places has been sprouting around town. This restaurant has been packing in huge crowds of diners for their  affordable ramen and Japanese specialties. Their ramen comes in these variants - shiro, kuro, miso, aki, chasyumen

We had the kuro ramen set with tonkatsu and the aki ramen set with prawns.

The shiro ramen is milky and flavorful. It sort of reminded me of santouka's shio ramen but this has light hints of spiciness. The ramon comes with seaweed, bamboo shoots a slice of chasyu and leafy greens.

 But i was blown away by the garlicky flavor of the aki ramen. This has a stronger umami taste and the noodles were firmer and aldente.

 The prawns were not exactly picture friendly but it does its job.

Here are the chefs at work in Kuroda

Ramen kuroda is located at Aguirre street, BF Paranaque.
About 300 per head.
There's parking outside.

Oh my Kosh - Moshi Koshi Noodle Boss

Was surprised to find out they opened near Two E-com and since I was craving for ramen plus I didn't even want to wait in line at Ramen Nagi MOA, I gave it a try.

The place looked tempting and immaculately clean. It was set-up like a fast-food joint, offering 3 different Japanese noodle specialties - Ramen, Soba, and Udon. The ramen came in 2 sizes - Regular and Boss. (Boss has egg, and 2 pieces of chasyu)

I ordered the regular Shoyu Ramen.  The noodles were al dente , but the ramen was literally swimming in oil. That led me to ask the server if the really served their ramen that way. The Chasyu was paper thin, and the bamboo shoots were a bit overcooked. Thank goodness I followed my gut feel and went for a small bowl.

I also ordered Gyoza, it was OK, the skin was paper thin but the dipping sauce is a fail. (more spice, please)

Check out how much oil is in this soup

You really can't compare Moshi Koshi to other established ramen places, it would be like comparing Chowking to Shang Palace. Frankly you get what you pay for - fastfood ramen at almost fastfood prices. (Sorry guys, it's a tough business, but you have to work on making your ramen better if you want to survive the ramen wars.)

Ramen Diaries: Kenji Tei Greenbelt 5

My uncle has a theory about BF Paranaque being the launchpad of established dining places in Manila. And I can't agree more.The legendary Conti's started here. Kenji Tei started as a small ramen house that rocked the ramen revolution.
 
They now have a place at Greenbelt 5 that has really nice interiors. The menu has other entrees aside from ramen. 

Appetizers:
Cheese Gyoza  (house specialty)
Imagine deep fried gyoza with cheese and cheese inside? Instead of shoyu you dip it in mayo with hot sauce. This one's really good, the gyoza skin is a bit thick though and best enjoyed hot.

Miso Butter Corn Php 258
We were a bit overwhelmed by the butter in the ramen.
There's just something about this dish that is quite off.

Gomoku Shio. This one is simple, memorable and good piping hot.
The egg is quite off, making it look like mami. Php 268

Here's their menu
http://www.zomato.com/manila/kenji-tei-ramen-house-greenbelt-makati-city/menu

Kenji Tei Ramen House: 3/F, Greenbelt 5, Legazpi Village, Makati.
2 spoons (4 spoons for the cheese gyoza!)

Rating
Zero Spoons - Not coming back
One Spoon - Something's wrong here
Two Spoons - Average Joe
Three Spoons - Good but can do better
Four Spoons - Yummy, la
Five Spoons - Where have you been all my life?

A hit and miss at Kokoro Ramen Ya!

tempura

i have reserved feelings for Kokoro ramen ya.
I heard this place is partly owned by the former Japanese cook of Shinjuku Ramen.
But they have a different menu.

The place looks classy and during their soft opening, servings were big. That is why we have eaten here a total of 3x because of the very good ramen. When we went back for 4th, we were disappointed that the fried california maki became smaller and so did the ramen servings.

I recommend ordering the Hakata Classic (Php 325), a very creamy pork-bones soup ramen which they claim was boiled for 10 straight hours. This ramen is worth your trip alone.

The Gomoko Ramen (275), a seafood ramen in clear soup is also a favorite.

You can add additional toppings to your ramen to enhance the taste like the soft-boiled egg, chives, corn and butter or nori.

There are also ala carte items, like the ever-favorite Tempura and fried rice. The fried California maki was also good but it becomes smaller everytime we go there.

Japanese fried rice

their signature ramen - yummy sana

But alas, somebody tried to play a naughty trick on my sister by putting in what looked like armpit hair in the ramen, which we complained and was replaced by... another bowl with the same f-ing curly armpit hair. To make things worse, nobody from the staff ever bothered to apologize so we paid the bill and left in disgust.

Best ramen na sana, but they have go to get their act together. The armpit hair is revolting.

First trip 4 out of 5 spoons
Last trip 3 out of 5 spoons

Kokoro Ramenya
2/F Avenue of the Arts, 1388 Roxas Blvd cor Sta Monica Ermita, Manila