Here are 14 suggestions for your fix of this Japanese comfort food
The ramen craze continues. Hidden at the back of many menus in ramen places are other finds such as gyoza, some appetizers and salads, karaage or boneless crispy fried chicken, and chahan or smoke-scented fried rice.
More new restaurants are opening left and right. More and more students from various culinary schools here and abroad are graduating, with money to open their own dining places with a variety of concepts.
The opening of Ippudo Philippines at SM Megamall’s Fashion Hall a month ago is the continuation of John A. Concepcion’s plan to open dish-specific restaurants. He did this four years ago with Yabu, which focused on katsu.
At Ippudo's recent private tasting event, we realized that three of our most intense food cravings can be found in the same place, SM Megamall’s Mega Fashion Hall.
In March, Inquirer Lifestyle asked 100 people which ramen restaurant they would like to see in the Philippines. Ippudo topped that survey and, on Wednesday, it finally happened. Japan’s world-famous ramen house just opened at SM Megamall’s Fashion Hall.
“How can people eat ramen more deliciously? How can people enjoy it more? That’s something I’m always thinking of,” said Ippudo founder and Ramen King Shigemi Kawahara, who has devoted 30 years of his life to raising ramen standards.
Lately Metro Manila has been flooded with ramen restaurants—all of them claiming to be authentic and the best.
Having lived in New York and visited Singapore and Hong Kong a few times too many, I, with friends and other ramen enthusiasts, would usually salivate at the mere mention of Ippudo, known for its rich Tonkotsu-based ramen. The silky broth is intense with the taste of pork, and is too good to share.
Some people may have different associations when they think of Japan, but I had two things in mind upon receiving the invitation of the Japan National Tourism Organization (www.jnto.go.jp/philippines) and the Japan Tourism Agency (www.visitjapan.jp) to a familiarization tour of Tokyo last June: Hachiko and sushi. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
