Ramen Nagi (Robinsons Magnolia, Quezon City)

In 2006, Ramen Nagi founder Satoshi Ikuta opened a tiny restaurant with ramen-loving friends in Fukuoka, Japan. Because of the limited dining space (like most dining establishments in Japan), customers were encourages to share tables in his intimate restaurant. Chef Ikuta produced his ramen in front of each customer. This groundbreaking restaurant became the first in the world to serve a different type of ramen every day for 365 days of the year. In a short time, his restaurant became so popular that customers had to queue to be served.

By word of mouth from satisfied customers, the reputation of the restaurant as a leading gourmet ramen destination spread and reached overseas. That humble tiny restaurant has grown into an international empire with 16 branches in Japan and over 31 branches overseas including 20 in the Philippines.

I have friends who have tasted its food raving about the bestseller Butao King. Juvy in particular wanted me to celebrate my birthday there, but we decided to dine in another place. Recently, I finally had the chance to visit Ramen Nagi at Robinsons Magnolia to see what all the fuss is about.

My brother and I arrived at 11am when there were fewer than 10 customers inside. We were seated right away. I requested a place at the backmost part of the restaurant. It was a little hot that day and the temperature inside the restaurant was almost as hot as the temperature outside.

The staff were nicely garbed and they were accommodating. The guy who served us our food asked us to fill out the omotenashi sheet. The omotenashi sheet is a customer individual preference sheet which originated in the early days of Ramen Nagi in Hong Kong for him to serve his customers in a satisfying manner despite the language barrier.

We chose Butao King and Black King. I decided to have “normal” richness of taste and special sauce. My butao homemade fire sauce was 1 spicy. My brother chose 2 spicy. In addition to the ramen, we had karaage or Japanese fried chicken. I chose the 7-spice variant because a) I like the number 7 and b) I like my food to have a little kick of flavor.

While waiting for our food to arrive, I read the instruction on how to eat Nagi Ramen. There are three changing layers of taste in each bowl of Ramen Nagi. The first step in enjoying a bowl of Ramen Nagi is to lift up the bowl and slurp the soup. The fragrance of the boiled pork envelops the palate. Slurping introduces air combined with the pork and the soup creates the first layer of taste. The second step is to grab a few strands of noodles from the bottom of the bowl, lift into your lips and slurp again, which brings out the fuller umami flavors from the pork. Every time you bite the noodles, the sweetness of the taste and the flavor of the soup also deepen. The third layer of taste rising from the bottom of the bowl comes from Ramen Nagi’s special fire sauce. The sauce is mixed into the soup, which creates deep, complex flavors.

Our ramen were served promptly. I did not follow the “how to eat Ramen Nagi” steps to the letter because I eliminated the slurping part. I ate with my eyes first and it was a gorgeous bowl of ramen whose broth smelled mouthwatering. I tasted the broth and the depth of its flavor was ah-mazing. I could taste the love and care that was placed into making the broth. The pork flavor was so rich which was balanced by the special handcrafted noodles. The noodles were cooked perfectly and it greatly soaked up the flavor from the broth. I added some bean sprouts to add texture to what I was eating. The 1 spicy level of fire sauce was enough for me. At first I did not taste the kick but as I dug into the broth, the piquancy became more pronounced. The pork slices were tender but were thick enough to retain the flavor of the broth. They could still be a tad thicker. I felt that I had four or five slices.

*Ramen Nagi Original Butao King, P395.00 (US $7.80). Original butao king has award winning pork broth prepared in the traditional method. It is mouthwatering, rich, fresh, and aromatic. It has special handcrafted noodles and classic Nagi pork chashu.

My brother also liked the broth and I saw him did well with his 2 spicy level butao king. Although he did not really like the abundance of garlic in his bowl.

Ramen Nagi Black King, P450.00 (US $8.89). It has fragrant blackened garlic and squid in silky broth with succulent chashu, finished with a ball of minced pork, black sesame, and Nagi spices.

The karaage was a little disappointing. The smell of the 7-spice dominated the table when it was served but it was a hit or miss. One piece was spicy and the other was bland. It came with finely sliced cabbage and mayo mustard dip. The cabbage were crisp and the dip was decent but not memorable.