You’ll either love ’em or hate ’em.
The beauty of traveling is you get to know people from different cultures with different practices. More importantly, you get to tick off items on your food bucket list as you embark on gastronomical adventures to places that serve the most authentic or the weirdest dishes in the world.
Japan is one of the most diverse and culturally rich countries where one visit is not enough to try all its best restaurants. It is known for its fresh sushi, hot bowls of ramen, Kobe beef and more. The Philippines, over the past years, have fallen deep into the ramen craze and while it has slowed down, we see no signs of it disappearing at all.
To inspire next generations of ramen vendors, we scoured and discovered 10 quirky non-traditional bowls around the globe (okay, mostly from Japan) that may find its place in Manila later. This is the 4th and last of our ramen series for the month of February. Check out parts 1-3 in the links below:
Part 1: Top 10 Ramen in Manila
Part 2: 10 Unique Ramen Bowls in Manila
Part 3: 10 Secretly Awesome Ramen Joints in Manila
R-20 Tequila Ramen – Tokyo
Menya Kouno’s “R-20 Tequila Ramen” is a shoyu-based ramen with handmade noodles, cilantro, a slice of lime, and a shot of tequila. While ramen is widely known to cure a hangover, this bowl might just be the ultimate irony. Insider tip: Customers input their orders on a vending machine where they get tickets for their meals.
Ice Cream Ramen – Tokyo
Kikuya’s signature dish is the ice cream ramen, an unorthodox take on the Japanese dish where an unassuming bowl of ramen is topped off with an ice cream cone. But wait there’s more. Ramen Kikuya also offers colored broths, made only with natural ingredients like red cabbage to give their broth unique colors.
Pineapple Ramen – Tokyo
While fruits are seasonal in most countries, this ramen shop in Japan serves fruit-based bowls all year long. Papapapapine specializes in fruit-infused bowls of ramen which may be peculiar to some traditionalists but has certainly sparked interest in the ramen scene. They also serve a strawberry spin off called the “Susususustrawberry.”
Ramen Taco’s – Sydney
Tucked amidst the busy and bustling Night Noodle Market in Sydney, Australia is Everybody Loves Ramen’s ramen taco’s. The traditional tortilla is replaced by crispy taco-shaped noodles, definitely an upgraded hard shell taco and one of the best East & West fusion dishes we’ve seen.
Roast Beef Ramen – London
More often than not, it is pork we find in our ramen bowls, so when we heard about roast beef and duck confit, we had to include it in this list. New player United Ramen in London serves both.
English Breakfast Noodle Bowl – London
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day no matter where you are. Good thing Koya Ramen feels the same way and cooked up their own version of a breakfast bowl. Insider tip: Get your local fix of breakfast ramen at Wrong Ramen.
Lemon & Black Pepper – New York
Why settle for your ordinary Japanese ramen when you can get it with lemon and black pepper. NYC’s Bassanova Ramen mixes East and Western flavors in one bowl. If only New York were a few minutes away from Manila, we’re on the first plane out! P.S. One of its signature bowls is the Green Curry Ramen.
Halal Ramen – Shinjuku
Owned by a Japanese Muslim couple, Ouka is the only ramen house in Shinjuku that serves halal-certified ramen and other Japanese favorites. Their bestseller is the Shinjyukugyoen Ramen Ouka and it comes soft boiled eggs and a side of rice and grilled chicken.
Lechon Ramen – Chicago
Lechon, considered to be one of the Philippines’ signature dishes, is best enjoyed with various sauces and spices in the Philippines, but here in Chicago, they like it with their ramen. Belly Shack’s Lechon Ramen is a living testament to what Anthony Bourdain once said about the lechon: that it is “the best pig ever.”
Chocolate Ramen – Tokyo
The chocolates are not infused in the broth, nor are the noodles coated with it. Instead, Mensho Ramen decides to take it 3 notches higher by dropping real chunks of chocolates on the ramen. While some eat it straight up, the others recommend you let them melt into your broth and slurp it with your noodles. P.S. It has landed in San Francisco, USA.
BONUS!
Shoyu Soba – Tokyo
Tsuta’s Shoyu Soba is the only ramen place in the world to be awarded a single Michelin star last 2015. It seats only 9 people at a time and uses a vending machine to distribute order tickets to its customers. Their bestselling Shoyu Soba noodles are made from the stone-ground flour of four different kinds of wheat and its light, clean-tasting broth contains three different aged soy sauces, red wine, and Italian black truffle oil.
Boy oh boy, we sure are hungry for some ramen. Did you know that the Booky app can help you search for the best ramen joints and dishes in Manila? Just type in “ramen” or a specific dish like “ramen burger” on your app and results are instant, with no loading time. Booky works offline!
