Foodie Alert: Ippudo is now in BGC

I love getting random messages from P as it always mean great news and usually involve food. And yesterday was no exception. It was about Ippudo Uptown Mall BGC's opening this time. Well, sort of. P said that Ippudo is looking for people to participate in the ramen place's two-day stress test. I immediately said that I'm willing to participate as it simply mean that we'll act like usual customers during Ippudo's simulation. 

Hello, Ippudo!

We got to Ippudo early and there was quite a line outside. Since looloo saved us some seats, we went to the front of the line and told the host that we're looking for Denise. Apparently, the ones in line were all for the stress test and probably mentioned her name too, only are affiliated with other groups or probably friends of the owners.

Well, they were just doing some last minute preparations and after a short wait, we got in.

Luckily, C, R1, R2 and P got the table right beside ours so we got to chit chat for a bit over ramen among others. 

R who has never been to Ippudo ordered Akamaru Shinaji (PHP495) while I went with Shiromaru Motoaji (PHP490). We also got Okonomiyaki(PHP270) and Deep-Fried Gyoza (PHP220) as appetizers and Matcha Creme Brûlée (PHP160) for dessert. For drinks, we opted for Watermelon Shake (PHP115) and Lemonade (PHP110).

Service was quick and we got our drinks in less than 5 minutes. We were also served house water before that. 

R's lemonade had a nice tangy taste which was refreshing. 

My watermelon shake was also good. It wasn't very sweet and did the job in quenching my thirst. 

Our other orders arrived right after. 

The okonomiyaki was quite sweet because of the okonomiyaki sauce. 

I loved the harmony of textures of the yam, egg, chasu and black konnyaku (potato). But I felt that the flavor was too overwhelming for an appetizer. 

The deep-fried gyoza was scrumptious! It had a lovely meaty taste and it was flavorful enough even without the ponzu sauce. Don't let the chili and spicy mayo stop you from ordering if you have low tolerance to spicy food like me. It wasn't spicy at all. 

Our server, VJay said that my Shiromaru Motoaji would taste best with some freshly squeezed/minced garlic. It did make the ramen richer but it was not a dramatic change. So if you're on a date, you can skip the garlic. 

My bowl had a light and creamy flavor which was complemented by the slight saltiness and sweetness of the chasu. I loved the crunch of the seaweed, kikurage (mushroom) and bean sprouts and the hardness of thin noodles. 

R's ramen was slightly spicier but still tolerable. It was also a bit light in texture. You could definitely go without garlic with this one as each bowl of Akamaru Shinaji has garlic oil.

Stuffed and after barely finishing our bowls, we signaled for our matcha creme brûlée to be served. 

This one took a bit longer as the top had to be torched for the perfect caramelized layer. 

And it was worth the wait!

It was superb! The custard was matcha flavored and the scoop of vanilla ice cream was also sprinkled with matcha powder! The subtle matcha taste went so well with the ice cream and torched sugar. I went to matcha creme brûlée heaven! It was so great that I'm already scheduling my next visit just for this! 

I'll definitely be back! I hope though that they sustain the amazing level of service we got earlier. 

P.S. Heading to Ippudo on its grand opening tomorrow, May 20? Make sure that you're early so that you get to be one of the first 200 guests and get a FREE bowl of ramen of your choice! 

Ippudo is located at Ground Floor, Uptown Mall, 9th Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.