Ippudo reviews, Ramen in SM Mega Mall

When Ippudo came to Metro Manila, lots of people lined for their ramen. Surprisingly, they waited for an hour!! I was surprised of Filipino's addiction to Ippudo. For Japanese, Ippudo is very famous, they also like their tonkotsu taste, akamaru and shiromaru. Taste here in Ippudo is almost same as that in Japan. I could say that Ippudo is one of the best ramen in Metro Manila.

I tried the limited spicy black ramen. It was excellent!

Usually, ramen here in the Philippines is very fatty,

If you are not a fan of fatty ramen, but still prefer tonkotsu, I would recommend Ippudo for you.

While I am more of a fan of fatty ramen, I still enjoyed ippudo's version.

Ippudo also serves different kinds of delicious side dishes such as their famous pork buns.

The restaurant looks very nice, I especially like the bowl display.

The service is also very good.

The price is par for the course, for a good bowl of ramen.

Ippudo is well -known ramen restaurant in Japan. It's their first restaurant in Manila.
Location: 3rd floor SM Mega Mall B Ortigas( It's hard to find it)
Food: They have "Aka-maru(Red)" and "Shiro-maru(White)". Aka-maru is a bit spicy and Shiro-maru is a normal one.
I ordered "Shiro-maru special" with half boiled egg ,pork and seaweed)
The taste is completely same with I tasted in Japanese Ippudo. I like it very much and it's my best ramen restaurant in Manila.
Price: within 500PHP

They have good ramen here, but I still prefer Ramen Nagi. Their advantage over Ramen Nagi is their extensive menu. They have lots of side dishes and desserts. However, Ramen Nagi recently increased the number of items on their menu.

I would only go to Ippudo for their Pork Buns. It's very delicious!

Source: http://konyoqueen.com/2016/01/03/ippudo-craze-blows-over/

一風堂 ( “ippūdō”), literally meaning “one wind hall”, was meant to describe the gust of revolution blowing over Kyushu’s ramen industry. Founded in Fukuoka in 1985 by Shigemi Kawahara, crowned as the Ramen King, Ippudo brings to us the modern flavors of Hakata-style ramen. (一風 can also mean “eccentric”. 堂 is usually found in 食堂, which refers to food hall or cafeteria in Japanese.)

Ippudo has 3 basic ramen flavors:
1. Shiromaru Motoaji (white) – Original tonkotsu broth Hakata-style.
2. Akamaru Shinaji (red) – Original tonkotsu broth with miso paste.
3. Karaka-men (spicy) – A spicier version of the Akamaru.

They all come with chashu (pork belly) and thin, wavy noodles with varying hardness. We always go for “al dente” so the noodles continue to cook in the broth. You can choose to add a soft-boiled egg, additional chashu and/or seaweed in your ramen.

I had it first in Singapore in 2012. When Ippudo came to Manila in 2014, I was pretty excited about it, but was disappointed when I finally got to try it. I probably didn’t enjoy the ramen because my expectation was set too high. However, I kept an open mind this time around, and I enjoyed it for what it was: a bowl of great-but-not-the-best-ramen-I’ve-ever-had.

I got the Akamaru and I found the soup to be nice. The broth had captured the pork essence with a subtle aftertaste from the miso paste, though I wish the soup had been thicker…a lot richer. The thin, hard noodles went really well with it, giving it some texture, but they didn’t really absorb the flavors. For me, that was the deal breaker. I ended up drinking the soup and leaving the noodles.

I also tried the Karaka-men, and I felt that it wasn’t spicy enough and that the flavor was all muddled up. It didn’t have a distinct character, and that made it seem weak in comparison with the Akamaru.

Ippudo may have been considered innovative when it first opened 30 years ago–and it probably was–but today it seems to me yet another contender in the Ramen Wars, an implicit competition for the best bowl of ramen in Metro Manila. The gust has blown over.