New restaurant feature: Ramen Sora

As I slurped down my shio ramen, I suddenly found myself asking, “What are the next milestones in my life?”

Khonie and Robby were probably waiting for me to blurt out the things that I wanted to do next, but I could not remember anymore if I gave them an updated bucketlist that evening. Most likely I didn’t.

I wish though the answers were all on my bowl, perhaps hidden somewhere beneath the tamago, the slices of pork chasu and menma (pickled bamboo shoots) – all of which looked contentedly resting on the bouncy noodles immersed with the umami-laden broth. Even that and the cold can of Kirin, failed to provide any helpful clues.

https://instagram.com/p/10oFWhim80/

I also could not recall how we got to that question. But I could tell you though why my friends and I came back to Ramen Sora, a new restaurant that opened along AS Fortuna in Mandaue City. The media invite that they launched last March was a frenzied affair to say the least. The only things I remember were eating edamame beans together with their fibrous pods and Mr. Gerry Apolinario, the man behind the successful Gerry’s Grill empire in the country, dropping by our table.

Mr. Gerry Apolinario sharing a light moment with some of Cebu’s bloggers.

At that time, Mr. Apolonario shared to us how he convinced Ramen Sora’s chefs – Tomio Takada and Yoshinari Ishise, to partner with him so that they can bring their delicious ramen bowls to the Philippines. It took them awhile to reach a deal, but to make the long story short, the first Ramen Sora branch in the country finally opened in Subic, December of last year.

There was also way too much food and way too many people during that evening. It was a combination that’s either good or bad, depending on how you see it. That’s why my friends and I decided to give Ramen Sora another visit, if only to order the ramen that we preferred and to properly eat an edamame as well – just the beans this time.

Corn Butter Ramen, shio base. (Regular bowl at Php 295, extra large at Php 415)

Edamame (Php 85) and Tokutarou Gyoza (5 pcs, 10 pcs at Php 175 and Php 345 respectively).

We have tried their miso best-sellers during the media invite, that’s why we ordered different bowls on our return. I had a Deluxe “Sora Ramen” which had 3x more pork chasu than the ordinary bowl. Robby this time chose the Corn Butter Ramen with shio (salt-based) while Khonie had a bowl of Shoyu (soy-based) Ramen.

Shoyu Ramen (regular bowl at Php 285, extra large at Php 485.

I actually liked the latter more than mine. Its broth had just the right amount of brine to complement the already salty chasu slices. Ramen experts (including the self-proclaimed ones) however, might offer a different or better explanation. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed and finished my bowl, including the nori sheets that I thought was originally ornamental. Thankfully Khonie pointed out that these were also edible.

My rather existential-esque question was not the only topic that evening, if I may point out. Like most recent conversations I have with blogger-friends, we also talked about our blog backlogs and future travel plans, among many others that I do not have the liberty to disclose here.

Suffice to say that such conversations are only possible when you are in good company and almost always, when in the presence of good food or good bowls of ramen, particular the ones we had at Ramen Sora.

Ramen Sora
https://www.facebook.com/ramensora.com.ph
http://ramensora.com.ph/

Lightsite Parc, A. S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City
+63 32 5203331
Opens daily, 10 AM – 12 AM