HARMONY IN A BOWL (a review of Ramen Bar - Eastwood)

“A bowl of ramen is a self-contained universe with life from the sea, the mountains, and the earth, all existing in perfect harmony. Harmony is essential. What holds it all together is the broth. The broth gives life to the ramen.” – The Ramen Girl (2008)

  My family, especially my father, in his prime loved to eat out.  At that time I was just a young boy, probably around 9 or 10.  It was also at this time that the buffet-style of dining amongst restaurants was a big deal.  One of the prominent restaurants was a fancy Japanese restaurant named SAISAKI and let me tell you, was it love at first bite!  I took a loving for their cuisine, in retrospect, at that age already was quite adventurous with food.  Let us face it, raw fish as a course was an acquired taste at that time, not to mention an odd delicacy.  Soon enough, Japanese cuisine was at the top of my list of cuisines.

    I didn’t understand food back then, not the way I do now at least.  It turned out, what seemed to me as authentic Japanese cuisine was far from the reality of it. 

  Japanese cuisine was and still is art form.  Before I acquired some knowledge about Japanese cuisine, I always thought sashimi is simple, cut up some fish into thin slices and there you have it.  Or roll up rice and stuff it with seaweed, add some cubes of fruit, or maybe a piece of fish and there you’d have sushi.  Now, knowing what I know, all of these things had a purpose and a proper way of doing and preparing.  Japanese cuisine in itself is an art.  Would you believe that in Japan, it takes almost a decade to be able to call yourself a proper sushi chef?  That’s pride and cultural integrity at its best.

     However, this “art form”, so to speak, does not end with making sushi or sashimi, this also extends to how they cook and develop the flavors of their “Ramen”.

    This particular feast holds a warm place in my heart, just for the sole reason that Japanese cuisine, as simple as it seems, is in fact very complex making it one of my favorite cuisines.

Courtesy of Foodie and the Feasts

As I enter the RAMEN BAR – EASTWOOD MALL, I am immediately brought into a modern ramen house that has a very warm aura to it.  It could be the way the lighting complements the wood panels used on their walls.  It is vibrant but at the same time it feels cozy.  I have been to other branches of Ramen Bar and they all give off the same vibe.

Now, I think if it is your first time at RAMEN BAR, you owe it to yourself to actually order a bowl of ramen, it is after all named after the dish and to me there is nothing more obvious than that.   What especially gives me comfort, is looking at the menu of this joint and how compact and streamlined the menu is, which gives me the impression that everything that will be sent out from the kitchen will be perfect and exquisite, after all they would only have a few recipes to cook and perfect.  

This is impression should be validated, no less, and most certainly, in their ramen selection.  Why? Well there are only eight (8) ramen dishes to choose from.  Personally I’ve tried four (4) so far, but that’s for another time and another review.  For now I will be sharing with you my insights about their SHIO RAMEN.

Courtesy of Foodie and the Feasts

Their SHIO RAMEN as described on their menu is, to wit, “Salt infused Tonkotsu Ramen topped with tamago, naruto, negi and chasyu” that costs Php 280.00.   Now the intention of my blog is not only give you a take on the food and feasts that I eat but also to educate people about food and cookery.  So before I get to the nitty-gritty of the bowl tasty goodness, I just want to share with you a few facts. 

Restaurants and other food establishments name their dishes and provide a detailed description of what comprises it on their menu.  As customers, use this to your advantage.  This is one of the factors of how they gauge how much they can charge you for each dish.  This is why I think it is crucial to educate and familiarize oneself with various ingredients.

Photograph borrowed from Google

The SHIO RAMEN is topped with various ingredients.  The Tamago is Japanese for “soft-boiled egg ( http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/ajitsuke-tamago-japanese-marinated-soft-boiled-egg-recipe.html ).  This brown egg, looks like salty duck egg but when you bite into it, it just lends well to the salty taste of the miso broth. While, this one was not “soft-boiled”, it just has this interestingly and surprisingly sweet and savory flavor.  Not only does the tamago add depth and another layer of flavor but it also complements the silky texture of the ramen noodles.    

Photograph borrowed from Google

Naruto is a thinly sliced fish cake commonly found in ramen bowls.  It’s that white flower-shaped, radish-looking topping with a swirl of pink in the middle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narutomaki ).  Honestly, it doesn’t offer much flavor wise but it is a tasty treat. I think it just makes the presentation of the dish more delectable. It is somewhat like a good squid ball and it’s slightly sweet.  

The Negi is a Japanese green onion, ( http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Tokyo_Negi_Onions_6650.php ), it is a cross between a scallion and a leek but thinner.  It not only adds a pepper-like and fresh taste to the salty and sweet flavors, but it also add a layer of texture to the dish, adding that crunch as oppose to all the soft textures in a ramen bowl.  

Photograph borrowed form Google

Credit of the Photo goes to www.seriouseats.com

Chasyu or as it is really called, Chashu is basically a rolled pork belly cooked to perfection by braising it long enough to make it tender and juicy. (http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/03/the-food-lab-ramen-edition-how-to-make-chashu-pork-belly.html ).  Personally, this is what really takes this dish over the top for me is the addition of that thin slices soft and succulent pork belly.  This is a true complement to that salty broth that balances out the dish.  From the texture of it, the fact that it melts-in-your-mouth soft, you know a lot of TLC went into the way it was cooked. Undeniably, low and slow!

All of these ingredients, lest we forget, the nori and seaweed, providing yet another salty note and texture. Of course, pulling them together into one cohesive dish, the noodles that are cooked well, leaving enough bite into them, and of course the identifying component of a true ramen bowl, the miso broth that is salty, but not so much to the point of ‘mouthwashing’ your palate is what makes a Japanese ramen, truly, a bowl of harmonized flavors, coming together to give your taste buds a burst of different flavor profiles, from salty to sweet and savory. So simple but, again, just a complex dish with so many components that make the Shio ramen, quite soothing and enjoyable!

Courtesy of Foodie and the Feast

There is truly something special, even magical, about a cuisine that has, on its own, from decades and decades of keeping to its roots and having the integrity to continue to do it the same way and with the same passion.  At the end of the day, RAMEN BAR is doing something right when it comes to their ramen bowls.  Consistently full of flavor and always satisfying, their bowls, are, as I like to say “worth the price of admission”.  It may or may not come close to the real deal, but it is, for all intents and purposes, rapidly becoming, arguably, one of the must-try ramen restos around, therefore, GOOD STUFF!