The Yummy List: Ramen and more

We've come up with a list featuring the best and most delicious dishes in Manila.
Because there's nothing like good food worth visiting and revisiting.
For this article, the theme is Japanese food classics.

RAMEN - the food of the moment. There's nothing like a hot bowl of noodles in flavorful soup to stir up the soul.

Our picks:

#1 Ramen Yushoken's Shio Ramen

What we love: Simply delicious and worth the long drive. This ramen place in Molito, Alabang has the secret ramen recipe of Japan's ramen god -Yamagishi Kazuo. Hear the hearty slurps of the patrons, this bowl is an umami bomb of deliciousness, the soup has a milky white texture, the noodles are al dente with the flavors that scream...eat me loud!

Budget: P320 per bowl
Location: Molito Mall, Alabang

#2 Ramen Nagi's Black King

What we love: The image is a contrast to Shio Ramen, instead of milky white, the soup is pitch black and garlicky because of all the squid ink. Unlike other places, you can customize your bowl at Ramen Nagi, choosing from the hardness of the noodles, richness of the taste, level of spiciness, etc. This place is known in other parts of the world as Butao. Expect long lines, sharing tables, and noisy patrons but the gooey, black bowl is worth slurping for.

Budget: P 410 per bowl.
Location: SM Aura, 5th Level

TSUKEMEN - deconstructed ramen
The way you eat this ramen is to dip the al dente noodles into the thick soup, then eat. Enjoy!




#1 Mitsuyado Seimen's Cheese Tsukemen

What we love: If you're fond of cheese, this bowl is extremely addictive. Comes in two sizes, we suggest you go for the large one. They give you a plate of al dente noodles, then a small bowl of cheese you can pour over the noodles, then you dip into the thick gooey soup. The soup is thick glob, that reminds us of adobo with hints of citrus. When you dig in, there are pieces of meat that say "Open up". This is a more modern way to enjoy ramen.

Budget: P310 small bowl, P 350 big bowl
Location: Jupiter, Makati














#2 Ramen Yushoken's Gyokai Tsukemen

What we love: Yushoken's version of the Tsukemen is a seafood lover's dream. The soup has hints of flavors of shrimp and seaweed, although it is not as thick as Mitsuyado's. But dip the noodles into it and you can taste heavenly bonito flakes dancing in your mouth.

Budget: Php 390
Location: Molito Mall, Alabang

GYOZA - Pan-fried dumplings that are sidekicks to every ramen lover's meal.

#1 Shinjuku Ramen House's Gyoza

What we love: Yep, the grandaddy of ramen houses does the gyoza best, pan-fried to perfection, these will tickle your taste buds as you dip in its sauce.  

Budget: Php 185 Big plate: P 270
Location: Makati Avenue

Gyoza   image is from tripadvisor.uk

#2 Kenji Tei's Cheese Gyoza

What we love: Proudly born in BF, Paranaque's Kenji Tei's Cheese Gyoza may not be as thin as the gyozas in Shinjuku or Yushoken, but this dish gets our thumbs up for innovation. The cheese just makes the taste of the gyoza richer, and the SB Hot sauce on mayo dip and could also pass for a good spring roll dip.

Budget: Php 198
Location: Greenbelt 5, Makati

SUKIYAKI - Slow-cooked soup of thinly-sliced beef and vegetables with soy sauce and mirin



Mangetsu's Beef Sukiyaki in HotPot

What we love: We can't get over this dish. This sukiyaki is light and flavorful, shunning the sugary sweetness of other versions. Comes in a weird-shaped iron pot, and with strips and strips of beef that say "hello" with every scoop of the ladle. Good for 4.

Budget: Php 470
Location: Jupiter, Makati






















TONKATSU - a breaded pork cutlet using panko or bread crumbs, the pork may come in lean parts or with fat



Yabu's Oroshi Katsu

What we love: Yabu has perfected the Tonkatsu to an artform, but how do you outdo yourself when you're on top of the game? Add citrus!  Yabu's Oroshi Katsu adds radish and piece of grapefruit you can squeeze on top of the fried katsu giving it a zing. More rice, please!

Budget:  Php 395
Location: SM MOA, Megamall, Robinson's Magnolia, SM Aura



















DONBURI

You can never go wrong with rice toppings. It's the ultimate cop-out way of enjoying a good meal without destroying your budget. Yoshinoya is an example of famous Japanese donburi chain.


















#1 Ryu Ramen and Curry's Toridon

What we love: There's a perfectly good reason to smile when you come in Ryu because there's a bit of something for everyone. The Toridon is strips of chicken teriyaki and mixed vegetables on rice. The chicken was grilled perfectly, the rice was generous. This also comes as a set meal with drink.

Budget:Php 230
Location: SM Jazz, Makati and UP Town Center




#2 Mitsuyado Seimen's Black Pepper Chicken Don

What we love: It's chunks and chunks and chunks of seasoned chicken over rice.
Our tip: eat them while they're hot.

Budget: Php 260
Location: Jupiter, Makati

 
















#3  Komoro Soba
What we love: It's delicious donburi insanely priced at P 99 each. This hidden treasure in Megamall serves Japanese food that is both tummy and wallet-friendly. We just can't get enough of their Oyako don, Gyudon and all those dons that we will make our mouths water. Add a side dish of Kara-age (Php 22 per piece) or Kaki-age (Php32 per piece) and you've got a winner! 

Budget: Php 99
Location: UGL, Building A, SM Megamall


LUNCH SETS/ BENTO BOXES

Kaizen Gozen Photo courtesy of Seryna's FB page

Seryna
What we love: Probably one of the best Japanese restaurants in Makati, Seryna's luncboxes are a treasure trove of Japanese delights. The best time to visit this place is during lunchtime, where you get a menu of only 7 - 8 items, each a specialty worth trying.  The Kaizen Gozen is seafood lovers delight with different kinds of sashimi, tuna, salmon, shrimp, uni, It also comes with 2 pcs. Chicken Kara-age, Rice, Salad, Fruit, Miso soup and side dish.

Budget: P 380
Location: Little Tokyo, Makati

Smoking Hot! Tajimaya Yakiniku at SM MOA ***

Rarely can you find eat-all-you-can places that offers quality food at an affordable price.
Some of my favorite buffet places food quality have deteriorated, but somehow Tajimaya still manages to offer great meats you can grill at at the same time retaining low prices.

Well gone is P499, instead the eat-all-you-can buffet is now Php 599 with bottomless iced tea.
The buffet comes with unlimited amounts of beef, chicken, pork, sausages, fresh shrimps, they have now added sliced cuttlefish and cuttlefish nuggets to the mix, plus steamed rice, lettuce to wrap the meat in and side dishes like kimchi and.beansprouts You cook everything in a hot coal grill with a time limit of 90 minutes.

Inside the restaurant is a bit humid because of the bad airconditioning, (MOA should do something about this, so many establishments are suffering from this)  But you'll be surprised that the place is full house on a weekday. Unlike other buffets that you have to stand up, you order what you want from their servers. Initially they serve you a platter of bacon and beef, salad and the sidedishes, then you take it from there. Avoid those cuttlefish rectangular thingies, those are better fried, or in a soup than grilled.

My suggestion?  Load up on bacon (who doesn't love bacon), beef and shrimps. Plus a lot of lettuce to wrap your bounty. Don't let this restaurant's minor hindrances stop you from enjoying a good barbecue. Grill away!

Tajimaya is located at the second floor of the SM MOA
the restaurant rows fronting the bay.
Buffer price is P 599+ per head.
A la carte options are plenty.
They also have ramen.

Return to Ryu Ramen and Curry

Went back to Ryu Ramen and Curry to check out if they are still consistent months after we did the review.  It was quite a laidback Saturday night but it was slightly raining. We re-ordered some of our favorites like the Shoyu Ramen, Tamanegi, Toridon and then some.

Shoyu Ramen

The food arrived and was consistent. 
The Shoyu ramen arrived as expected. Quality didn't change, still good for sharing, the noodles were al dente, the fillings were generous. And the price was still P 380. Comparing this to other ramen places, I suddenly appreciated theirs. How the soup turned up as hot and warm as I wanted, how the Chasyu was tender and big and how other stuff like Menma (bamboo shoots), the egg was there and didn't have to top up. Good job for the consistency, Ryu team,

The highlight of my evening was the Toridon, which was done perfectly. The chicken was delicious and tender in fact it was done well. Too bad I was not able to take a photo of it.

Tamanegi - delicious appetizer with onions, shrimps and squid

We also ordered Yasai Itame, but this wasn't one of their strong points. Also had Karaage and Chanan (fried rice) for the kids, and it was good. My only complaint is their mango juice - it was canned, it would be better if they offered fresh juices.

Karaage / Fried Chicken

This place still gets my thumbs up rating.
When you want a generous bowl of steaming hot ramen, come get yours at Ryu.
Taste wise and value for money wise, this place deserves to be experienced by your taste buds.

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.)