Mendokoro Ramenba

Finally.

Most of my foodie friends have already eaten here. It was about time I found out if there was substance behind the loud buzz.

We made it a point to be there last Thursday before 11. There was a queue already. Parking was still ok. Unica hija got a slot almost immediately. It pays to be early .

Anyway , first impressions :

The word Posh comes to mind. Perhaps this was because I was expecting it to look like those hole in the wall ramen joints in Japan.

Gleaming horse shoe shaped wooden table with matching wooden chairs and an open industrial type kitchen with a ginormous range hood right smack in the middle, dominates the place. There were only 24 chairs (if I counted it correctly). Purple wall on the right and wall festooned with flowers on the left.

Inside Mendokoro, the queue leads you to the cashier. There is a black and white instruction on the wall for the uninitiated or first-timers like me and the unica plus a big menu card .

Yes it was self service. It was simple enough. You pay cash or via credit card after choosing your order from the huge menu card on the wall. You then get your receipt and order ticket and get directed to your seat.

Each chair faced your own personal space on the long table which had a complete set of napkins, chopsticks, condiments and a silver flask for cold water. Kind of reminded me of Ichiran in Shinjuku Japan , where every possible thing you may need was within reach. Here though there was no personal cubicle to give you privacy.

But like Ichiran, Mendokoro was clever too. You get to concentrate on your ramen and therefore finish it almost immediately. We were there like 30 minutes tops hahaha. Turnover was fast. You do feel a bit pressured. The next batch of 24 was standing on the side inside the resto waiting for whoever will vacate their chairs kinda like Casaa during my college days in UP Diliman hehehe

Per my foodie friends' recommendation , unica and I ordered super chashu, extra tamago and 5 pcs gyoza

We were getting hungry with all the smells wafting from the kitchen. I can see my chashu being seared in an iron cast pan while another chef is deep frying our gyoza. We didnt wait that long. Almost immediately, the tamago was the first to be served.

Followed in a couple of minutes by gyoza....

Then finally our Super Chasu Ramen...

I took my time admiring the smoking hot bowl in front of me. The aroma was heavenly. The broth looked rich and milky. That slab of seared chashu was drool-worthy. I dipped my chopsticks in the soup and twisted some noodles in it . They looked thicker that what I was used to and al dente. Then using the white spoon scooped a mouthful of broth. Rich, delicious, layers of flavor. Yum!

The chashu had a bit of a crunch from the searing. It was tender and full of flavor. I loved the parts where there were fat. So sinful. The noodles had a beautiful texture and were al dente. The tamago which we ordered extra at P90 was beautiful to behold and quite scrumptious combined with the ramen.

The 5 pc gyoza 200 was delicious as well.

Unica hija and I share that bowl of super chashu. Despite its sublime taste, I really can not finish a bowl of ramen on my own. All in all with our order of one ramen, 5 pcs gyoza and two extra tamago, we spent P900 +

Verdict : The hype was justified. This just might be the best ramen joint yet Ive been to in Metro Manila.

Most definitely coming back with the piggery and the handsome hubby in tow.