Shitamachi

Maro Gonzales

Let's start off with adding to our Japanese Cuisine dictionary:What is Chashu?An evolved, Chinese dish of barbecued pork called “Char Siu”, the Japanese took it and made it a perfection of its own. It’s simmered pork, which just simply melts in your mouth and disappears. Each bite is a seriously wonderful experience as pork is bursting with flavour and the thin slices and the exquisite tenderness almost feels sinful. Their take has a very mellow and simple salted flavour plus the taste that I enjoy about pork is modest but it's there.What is Tsukemen?It’s like a ‘deconstructed Ramen’, to quote a person I admire, which is possibly the best explanation for a Tsukemen. The soup is separate and is more flavorful than the soup in Ramen. It also has a darker color and a full bodied taste and texture.This is the first time I’ve experienced it, while I’ve eaten Ramen quite a lot and have never really fully appreciated it as much as my Chashu experience. Each bite was like waking up to your favourite meal on a Saturday, it felt so warm, comfortable and almost nostalgic. I can’t even imagine how this would taste like in rainy weather! Am pretty sure it’ll be heaven after any kind of day.Salmon with Rice was not the best idea, and that's why I stuck to experiencing the slightly hot Tsukemen (And I wish I had easier access to a branch than just SM BF or Ortigas) Salmon is best to experience on it's own or with a very small serving of rice. It's taste is very mellow and graceful so topping it on rice no matter how hefty the portion is like sweet on sweet, you'll barely taste anything.Overall dining ExperienceTo quote a personal favorite competitive cooking show, “Good Gastronomy!”It was excellent for its price and I’ll be willing to even go there if their price increases suddenly up to around a hundred bucks. There service tea was good, the cups used were proper for it and my only complaint is they didn't have a lot of drink choices. Which I hope would improve! There prices are quite fair and wouldn't leave your tummy full while your wallet starving.

Ahmet Sürer

Ramen is good and definitely worth the price. Staffs are accommodating,not to mention super unlimited tea servings. Chashu is soft and tasty. Must try.