Weekend Food Choices Week 5: Tough to Beat the Real Thing

Weekend Food Choices:
1. Sango
2. Ramen Tei
3. Phoa

Our Choice:

Ever since hubby got home from Japan, he has been trying to satisfy his craving for something that would come close to the best ramen he has ever tasted. Apparently he found one of the best ramen places in Japan which was a good 20 minute walk from his flat in Saitama.

(Taken 2004 in Fujimino)

Dubbed as "manong's ramen", the noodle soup in this small eatery in Fujimino is by far, still the best ramen we've ever tasted. The thick flavorful broth with a generous serving of meat and my favorite marinated egg.

(Manong's Ramen, Fujimino, Japan)

Now, more than 4 years have passed and we're still trying to find something that comes close to manong's ramen.

Last week, hubby was excited to find out that Rament Tei had opened near our home and so without much thought, we decided it would have to be ramen for our 5th weekend food choices.

Ramen Tei was the first of the Japanese noodle houses to open in Makati back in 1977. That branch in Pasay was notable because the signage had no English words, just japanese characters. Thus it was just Japanese nationals, expatriates and businessmen and their families who came to eat at the first branch of Ramen Tei.

Ramen Tei, meaning noodle house, got hubby's attention the first time we saw the branch at home depot in Ortigas. This little restaurant has around 8 tables and a crew of 4-5.

It was a slow Saturday night when we arrived at around 8pm but the tables started to fill up after a few minutes.

We ordered Regular Ume, a plate of assorted sushi

The sizes were authentically large. I never got the hang of placing a whole sushi in my mouth and still ending up looking so prim and proper like the women in japan. So thumbs up for the sushi size, but hubby said that the rice in the sushi was a little dry. It was good for my hungry tummy though.

Hubby ordered his favorite fried gyoza

i always find this a bit too oily and meaty so i was just able to finish one piece. Hubby on the other hand, thought their gyoza was delicious.

Then finally our ramen came!

Hubby ordered Sutamina Ramen

and i ordered Nabeyaki Ramen

The ramen was good but still not what we were looking for. After all, Manong's Ramen is a tough dish to beat!