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. 

Love at First Bite: Ippudo

I have been planning to visit Ippudo since it opened but the line was so discouraging. I could never wait for over an hour just for a bowl of ramen while my tummy’s staging World War 3. I figured that in a month or two, the line wouldn’t be as crazy. WRONG. But last Friday, which happens to be a pay day Friday the 13^th, there was no line at all. (Okay, it was 4 p.m. then.)

Finally!!! Hello, Ippudo!

First thing I noticed was the bar table perfect for solo diners. I think I just found my new favorite hangout place.

I was famished when we got there as I haven’t had lunch yet. So I decided to go for Shiromaru Motoaji Special (PHP480), Ippudo Pork Bun (PHP100), Ippudo Chicken Bun (PHP100) and Ippudo Hakata-Style Gyoza (PHP195).

First served was the gyoza.

It was served hot and it was juicy with a slight crunch on the fried parts. Yummy though it was more expensive compared to the gyoza of other ramen shops.