Ramen High at Hanamaruken

Hanamaruken makes us insanely happy!

JING SAYS
I'm not particularly fond of ramen. For me, it's just another bowl of soup, so I couldn't get what the ramen fuss is all about. I hope it's just because I'm not a ramen person, and not because I'm getting too old to get excited about something new! Mwahahaha

ERIKA SAYS
I love Japanese food, ramen most especially! Whenever I eat in a Japanese restaurant, I have to have ramen. There's something very comforting about sipping on the warm soup, slurping on the noodles, and picking out which toppings you want to eat first. As the Hanamaruken peeps were explaining how their ramen is prepared, I was already imagining how it would taste. I got more excited when I found out that the soft bone pork rib has been cooked for ten hours to achieve its melt-in-your-mouth goodness. I became super giddy like a kid and I believe mom could attest to that.

JING SAYS
It was a long, long, long day. We started work at ten in the morning and didn't stop until around three in the afternoon. Finally, we found ourselves at Hanamaruken Ramen. I remember some friends raving about it on Facebook. But not being a ramen person, I couldn't relate. Of course, when I heard about how their Signature Happiness Ramen has a ten-inch soft bone pork rib that's been cooked for ten hours, I got really curious.

ERIKA SAYS
It was just how I imagined! The pork rib was so soft and tender; it didn't take effort to break it down. Although I prefer my soup light, this was an exception. The broth was thick, milky, and obviously fatty. We finished the soup in no time so we asked for an extra bowl. As for the noodles, it was neither soft nor hard, definitely just right. I didn't mind wasting away my calories for this bowl because it was worth it. I'm not proud of it but I think I ate three-quarters of the 10-inch pork. Haha! One thing I wish it had though, tamago.

Oh, I got to taste the Pot Belly Ramen as well! Its broth is fatty but light, and equally yummy. The pork belly smoothly melted in my mouth. Aaaah!

JING SAYS
I may not know that much about ramen, but this was definitely a tasty one! And let me tell you a little secret, it did get us really, really happy! I'm not sure if it was the super tender meat or the gloriously rich and fatty, bulalo-level soup, but Erika and I went on a ramen high. We were not only all perky and chatty, we also laughed at the smallest thing. It was hilarious.

I'm definitely getting another bowl of that happy soup soon!

Hanamaruken Ramen is at 2/F Trinoma Mall North Avenue cor. Edsa