Thursday, February 17, 2011

Rai Rai Ken: The Best of Both Worlds

The last time I’ve been to a Rai Rai Ken: Ramen House and Sushi Bar branch was like sometime between “I can’t remember when” and “I already forgot”. It’s been some Jurassic years in which I can’t really remember. I dunno why, but the only excuse that I have in my mind is, I barely see a Rai Rai Ken: Ramen House, that’s why.


And last week, I’m glad and surprised at the same time to receive an invitation to dine in its Finlandia, Makati branch. I was like, “Really? Rai Rai Ken? The Ramen House?”


I didn’t know that they have this huge-space branch there. So, when I finally arrived at the said venue, I was really shocked to see that there was indeed a Rai Rai Ken there. Hahaha. Stupid me, I’ve been passing on that area from time to time and never notice this establishment. Hahaha!

Anyways, as I got in, I was welcomed by the wonderful smell of their soup with matching the “almost authentic” Japanese restaurant, I’m glad to meet Rai Rai Ken again.


Rai Rai Ken, Finlandia, Makati is a two-story branch, being its main branch here in Metro Manila. I met their business development director and a son to the owner, Mr. Joey D. Garcia.


Oh, I tell you, when you meet him there, and if it happened that you see the picture of his father, you’d see the resemblance that will make you think that he is his dad. Hehehe.


Going back, as far as I remember, the last dish that I tried from Rai Rai Ken was, of course, the ramen that they took pride of.


And so, as we were asked to order our ramen, I chose Chasyu, a roast pork ramen with soy sauce based soup, slices of roast pork, menma and egg.

I was really excited to have my order. But while waiting, Mr. Garcia gathered our attentions as he showed us a little presentation of the “what about” of Rai Rai Ken.

I was amazed to know a lot of stuff about this food joint. It was a good story that has the potential to inspire more food business establishments.

After that, sumptuous appetizers were served to us to prepare our appetite for a tummy-filling dinner.

There’s the Gyoza or Japanese pork dumplings, which were appreciated by a lot of us. Then, there’s the Jurassic Maki and the Super California Maki with Salmon Salad Topping, which I really, really love! (I’m a maki fan, btw.) J

Jurassic Maki

Gyoza - Php60.00/3pcs
Php110.00/6pcs


Super California Maki – Php105.00/4pcs
                                          - Php195.00/8pcs

Mr. Garcia also shared to us their Sashimi Special, unfortunately, the kind of pink salmon that I had was kinda dry, probably because of their air conditioning system, a reason why I didn’t enjoy it that much.

And so, after some minutes of waiting, the most awaited ramen came.

Chasyu – Php195.00

Just by the look of it, I know that I’ll get so full if I managed to finish it all.

The color of the roast pork on top of the ramen was just perfect to me. The aroma was so inviting that I didn’t let it stay that long.

As I said, the last time I had ramen from Rai Rai Ken was some Jurassic years ago, so I’m not familiar with its taste anymore. But nonetheless, this one that I had brought back that good old comfort dish that I loved before.

The soup was just so flavourful, a great sign that Rai Rai Ken didn’t change their wonderful recipe. The meat and the veggies was succulent, I enjoyed every piece of it.

And as for the noodles, I can’t say more - the kind of noodles that I just like for a ramen.



And believe it or not, I manage to finish the entire bowl. BURP. I guess that’s the simplest way to say that the ramen I had was DELICIOUS. Hehehe.

After that “swak na swak” dish, we were treated to a bunch delectable desserts.

Choco Mango – Php70.00


Creamy Mango – Php70.00


Coffee Choco – Php70.00

I thought I’ll like the Choco Mango and Coffee Choco, since both have this “choco” name with them, and since I’m a big chocolate lover, but I was wrong.

Since all of the three are Panacotta, the creamy mango that was topped with mango puree and fresh mango bits suits to my taste/sweet tooth the most.

Plus, I had Mango Shake, too, all through my dining experience, so probably that’s why my palette was kinda lenient to the sweetness of the mango.

To end this wonderful experience that I had here at Rai Rai Ken, Finlandia, Makati let me say this…

I realized that even if there are a lot of different food establishments that mushroomed all over the metropolis, you’ll always keep that small part in  your tummy and heart the one place that gave you the first comforting and tummy-filling experience you had even way back to that Jurrassic days of your life.

Thank you, Rai Rai Ken.

PS. Good news! They have this 50% Promo Extended in all of their ramen dishes from February 15 to 28, 2011! Check out their Facebook Page and Official Website to know more about it!




Happy eating!





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