Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen (Shangri-La Plaza)

Beloved and I had dinner at Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen a couple of times the past month. This relatively new ramen place is located at the relatively new East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza. This took a while in the making due to busy work schedule, but I won't bore you with the details. This is perhaps the most popular among all the restaurants that opened up here. Since the first day we passed this place, there was always a waiting queue. I assume this must mean something great, so I was quite eager to try it out.

Luckily, the first time we went, we didn't have to wait at all. We were immediately accommodated with the last table for two and were presented by a pretty straightforward menu. Half of it was dedicated to their ramen. All of their ramen were tonkotsu or pork bone broth ramen. The only place I know of that serves this was Ramen Bar, so I immediately thought of comparing it against that, especially with somewhat premium prices. Their most affordable was priced at 330 Php, which was a bare-bones tonkotsu ramen. I didn't want that, of course, and chose to order their Chasyu Tonkotsu (380 Php). Beloved ordered their Black Garlic Tonkotsu (380 Php). When we placed our orders, we were asked how hard we wanted our noodles. I was surprised as I always assumed everyone wanted their noodles firm. The choices were hard, very hard, and normal. I assumed "hard" was firm enough so we both chose that. We also ordered their Gyoza (150 Php) for sides and Sea Salt Caramel (100 Php). The former was a substitute to their daigaku imo, which I would've preffered over gyoza. They were out, unfortunately. The latter intrigued me because it didn't have "ice cream" like the rest of their dessert choices, so I assumed this was just caramel. Our waitress clarified that this was indeed ice cream, and it disappointed me a bit.

Nomama - Revisited (Scout Tuazon, Near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Nomama a few weeks ago. We've been here before, and although we went here because they boast their "artisanal ramen", we were more pleased with their artisinal non-ramen dishes. You can read more about that here. Anyway, why did we go back here? I don't really know, but for some reason we ended up here.

Luckily, in fact. The day we went, they had a promo wherein we buy a large bowl of Prawn Ramen (445 Php), and we get a free junior bowl of any of their other ramen for 1 Php. We did just that and asked for their Ox Tongue Ramen. Since we were quite pleased with the appetizers we ordered the last time, we also asked for their Tuna Spring Roll (320 Php) which was the only one left that we haven't tried and wanted to. Finally, we also asked for their Miso Salted Caramel Ice Cream (150 Php).

Brooklyn Pizza (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times at Brooklyn Pizza, Tomas Morato. We always pass over this place whenever we go to Tomas Morato for other food adventures. Lately, I've been wondering why. I've heard little about this place, but from the outside, it looked like a decent enough pizza parlor that serves Buffalo wings. After Googling up their menu and finding out their somewhat reasonable price tag, we finally made time to try it out.

As I've mentioned, their prices were not too steep for a pizza place. We were even luckier the first time we went because they had a promo that features most of their menu. Their Barkada Summer Promo, priced at 799 Php, offered a choice of some of their 14" pizzas, a choice of some of their pastas, an order of Buffalo Wings, and 1.5 liters of Pepsi. Although there was just the two of us, and I would've forgone the included beverage, this was too good of a deal to pass. So we settled for their Vegetarian Pizza and White Shrimp Pasta.

Mezza Norte (Trinoma Mindanao Avenue Parking Lot)

Me, Beloved, and some friends visited relatively new (-ly transferred) food fair Mezza Norte at Trinoma's Mindanao Ave. Parking Lot. This used to be located at UP-Ayala Technohub, but moved here. I was convinced by many not to visit while it was still at Technohub due to the lack of space over the amount of people there. I did not receive the same complaints when it moved to Trinoma about a month ago.

Unlike the "usual" food fairs, this one opens relatively early from 4 p.m. up to 3 a.m. from Friday to Sunday, or, more accurately, until Monday morning. When Beloved and I arrived, at around 7 p.m., the place was already packed full. Although there were arguably a larger amount of tables and chairs compared to food markets I've been to, almost every one of them was occupied. Luckily, our friends arrived earlier and had a table reserved for us.

The best recommendations I've had were the steak from Juana Bowl and a sausage on bun dish from another stall. Sadly, the latter was no longer a tenant. So we went for the former place first. Although we originally went for their U.S. Rib Eye Steak (190 Php), the salmon they were cooking alongside with it smelled wonderful. So, Beloved ordered the steak and I ordered their Norwegian Salmon Belly (190 Php). It rained heavily moments after our order. Luckily, most of the fair was tented. Unluckily, it flooded some parts, making them inaccessible. The walk here from our table was among the flooded parts, so it was a bit of a nuisance, especially since my shoes weren't really waterproof.

Oishinbo (Little Tokyo, Makati)

Beloved and I had dinner at Little Tokyo's Oishinbo a few nights ago. This restaurant is among the "inner" places here, meaning you can optionally eat outside and have communal orders from any other place there. However, we chose to eat inside and was offered a seat beside the counter. We happily obliged.

Now, Oishinbo, unlike the rest of the places in Little Tokyo we've been to, is a bit different in that it doesn't have a specific Japanese food specialty. However, I found their menu to be practically complete. This was specifically good that night because we weren't really fancying anything in particular. In fact, the reason we went to Little Tokyo was because this was what came up after putting possible choices at decideforme.com. Like Hana, it was a bit more casual than Urameshi-ya and Seryna, having a homely Japanese family-owned home restaurant appeal to it. I smelt tempura on our way in, so I decided to order that in Japanese dinner box form: Ebi Tempura Bento (390 Php). Beloved ordered their Cold Ramen (380 Php). We also got their Salmon Sashimi (390 Php) and a couple of different yakitori, similar to what we had at Seryna, because the grill was just in front us and looked appealing: Shiitake Yakitori (90 Php) and Enoki Bacon Yakitori (120 Php).