Inggo Noms...

After going to Kureji, Beloved and I passed by Hokkaido Takoyaki. Just a couple of steps away from the aforementioned restaurant is this small stall on the Vertis Ginza. From the name and the size of the stall, it’s easy to deduce that they serve takoyaki or Japanese octopus balls. The open stall made it easy for them to attract customers as they cook the balls non-stop for passersby to smell. We were among the passersby that they managed to hook in.

Beloved and I had a late lunch at Kureji. This ramen-specializing place is one of the only few opened stores in relatively new Vertis North. Outside, there’s a television that plays their menu items. What grabbed my attention was the fact that the ramen is served boiling, or, in their terms, sizzling. Yes—apparently, they specialize in sizzling ramen. I guess that’s why they called it kureji, which essentially means “crazy” as spelled in katakana. It might also mean “courage”, which sounds similar, and, in retrospect, it really is couragous to try serving something like sizzling ramen.

After going to Tsuta with Beloved and Const, we went to Wrong Ramen since we were obviously unfulfilled on both stomach fullness and savory ramen cravings. We chose to go here because, like Tsuta, this place was unique in that there’s no other branches in the Metro. Also, the last place just made us want real ramen, and we hoped this place would fulfill that need.

Beloved and I, together with Const, ate at Tsuta yesterday. This famous Michelin-Starred soba place recently opened its doors at Taguig’s Bonifacio High Street. We watched BuzzFeed’s Worth It feature this place in Japan as their mid-range option for their Ramen special a few weeks back and the experience they had seemed divine. That, along with the fact that it’s original branch was granted one Michelin Star, gave us pretty high expectations of this place.

Beloved and I had merienda at St. Marc Cafe. We’ve actually been to this place a couple of times on their Megamall branch. In addition, Beloved has already visited this particular branch by herself, so we were quite aware what this Japanese-style cafe offers. They don’t really offer traditional Japanese dishes. They have pastries, desserts, coffee, and tea—usual cafe food and beverages. However, most if not all of them has that Japanese touch, such as incorporating matcha and having an inordinate variations of parfaits.

Beloved and I had dinner at Hanayo. It’s actually the second time we’ve been here, but we didn’t manage to take photos the first time, which happened early last year. Found just a skip away from Tomas Morato, this Korean grill is similar to the likes of Don-Day, one of the food places I exclaim highly due to the budget buffet they offer. This isn’t as inexpensive as Don-Day, however. When we first went, the buffet, which includes on-your-table grilling, only costed a bit more than 500 Php.

Beloved and I had dinner at Katsu Sora. This katsu place is located right beside Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, and I believe they have the same owner or franchisee, at Trinoma’s alfresco area. This place is a direct competition of Yabu, one of our favorite food places, specializing it katsu. But does it offer any competition at all?

Beloved and I had dinner at Nanbantei. This Japanese restaurant is located at Bonifacio High Street, a place we rarely go to. According to Beloved, this is not the only branch of this place, and her uncle frequents the same restaurant’s Greenbelt branch, which is another place we rarely go to. This place specializes in yakiniku, or Japanese barbecue. What differs from the norm is that this place isn’t a buffet like YakiMIX or Sambo Kojin, nor is it a barbecue place where you grill stuff on your table. Instead, it’s just your typical sit-down restaurant specializing in yakiniku.

Another ramen place? Sure, why not. Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka at Trinoma. This relatively new ramen place opened its doors at Trinoma’s fourth floor alfresco area, replacing our old tambayan Timezone Arena. Good old days.

Beloved and I had afterbrunch, or perhaps more of a brinner (dinner as breakfast, coined by me), at Hot Star’s somewhat newly-opened Katipunan Branch. It’s not actually at Katipunan itself, but on one of the side roads, F. dela Rosa to be precise. From the title, you can probably assume what it serves: Large Fried Chicken.