The pre-Christmas gridlock meant we had to walk a mile for dinner. Dennis had made reservations at a new ramen place along Jupiter and we had to hoof it from Rufino. The fairly long trek boosted our appetites and seeing the Mitsuyado Sei-Men sign brought relief not just to our heels.
You were saying something about your mama’s Mac & Cheese?
Apparently, the name means Three Arrows and its reputation is built on ramen, tsukemen in particular. Unlike the usual ramen bowl where everything is served in broth, tsukemen presents the noodles separately from the soup. You can ask for cold or hot noodles which you then dip into the broth before slurping up all the Nippon goodness.
Yes, we were that hungry….
Crowds flock to the joint to feast on double cheese tsukemen. Parmesan cheese is liberally sprinkled on the noodles while a bowl of melted cheese waits to be folded into the whole heap. My companions decided to try this and when the waitress finally served the orders, we were…impressed.
The food was ethereal. The broth was too rich to be the usual miso or shio. I have heard of tonkotsu but have never tried it. This must have been it though, for no other stock could be so syrupy and so painfully good. My hunger overcame my table manners and I inhaled my Jumbo Char Siu Tsukemen tray. The fatty cuts of pork coupled with the rich stock egged me on and within fifteen minutes(okay, ten,) my plate was clean. This proved unwise as I was literally silenced even before I took my last bite.
Leigh and Dennis found this amusing. (Ok, hilarious.) I had met my nemesis, my Pale Orc. Man – 0. Food – 1.
Small bowl. Big flavors.
Fast forward to the days after Christmas, when the city just chills (or tries to recover from all the ham it consumed just hours before,) I mustered enough courage to demand a rematch. And so, back into the breach we charged.
Ramen is healthy. Almost.
This time, I asked for Dan Dan Tsukemen and a side of Marutoku. The stock was pleasantly spicy. More importantly, it was less oily than the Char Siu’s but had enough spunk to tame the richness of the soup base. I also asked for hot noodles in place of the cold ramen I had before. I found this combination more agreeable and remembered to adopt a more leisurely pace and savor the meal.
The Marutoku bowl offered greens, a shingle of nori, two chunks of their silky char siu and an egg that must have been marinated in some Shogun’s secret sauce. Most ramen places serve a tamago marinated in shoyu, and these are typically good. But this one seemed to have more flavors tucked into its golden center, with different nuances unfolding with every bite. I could order this stuff all day, but my usually genteel cardiologist might flip.
Pictures may be worth a million words, but nothing will an actual visit to experience how a plate of noodles can really hit the spot.
Even if it takes two tries.
(Mitsuyado Se–Men is at 22 Jupiter, Bel Air, Makati. As always, no affiliation. Just an overly satisfied diner.)
Filed under: Food Tagged: Japanese, Mitsuyado Sei-Men, Ramen, tsukemen
