In my brother's quest to make ramen at home, he decided it would be a good idea to try out some ramen places in the city. The first one we went to wasn't exactly a "ramen place" because it only had two kinds of ramen on their menu, but it was a nice and cozy place. I imagine it would be a nice place to eat at with friends.

Taichou Izakaya is a reeeaallly small place tucked somewhere I personally don't pass by usually. Even a small person like me who can fit literally anywhere thought it was a little too small. They do have a slightly bigger dining area outside, though, in case you're with a big group of friends. I'm not comfortable with al fresco dining anywhere, but especially not in Philippine weather where the only time there's "cool air" is if it's raining outside. I think its small size is part of its charm! It lends to the izakaya feel of the place, which is very different from the typical restaurants.

As for their food, since we came for the ramen, we didn't get to try their okonomiyaki. The table next to us seemed to be really enjoying their okonomiyaki, though! The broth for my tonkotsu ramen was too thin for tonkotsu, but it wasn't too bad. I liked the egg and the meat. My brother liked his tantanmen too, even saying that it really inspired him to try his hand at making ramen. Their karaage was alright but I wouldn't recommend their gyoza.

I think their prices are pretty standard for the better Japanese restaurants around here and I do think it's one of the nicer places to get your ramen fix. I'd like to come back and try their okonomiyaki some time!

The other place we tried is Ramenikko. It's an easier place to find, since it's located at a bigger street, and it's a bigger, more restaurant-y, place. They have a parking space at the front, which is convenient. The clean lines, white walls, and light wood furniture and decor made the place feel quite spacious. They have this display of bowls and teapots on their wall that I thought was nice.

When we got there, it was a rainy day, so it was perfect ramen weather.

Apparently they make their noodles fresh everyday. Not that I have the sophisticated taste buds to be able to tell, but I suppose that's important to some people.

I think their ramen is really good! The broth was delicious and the egg was perfectly cooked. The meat wasn't my type, but it was also pretty good. The karaage was fine and the gyoza this time is more to my tastes, though it's not particularly mind-blowing.

The price is also not what I would call "affordable". It's definitely not something I would have been able to eat with my friends back when I was in university (who knows about kids these days, though). Of course, this is considering the standard prices in this city. I think the pricing in this restaurant fits just right in, say, Manila, and the food is worth the money if you can spare it.

As for my brother's attempt at ramen, it's not bad for a first try. It took a really long time and lots of effort before, during, and after, so I am of the opinion that it's really best to just eat out if you want ramen. You don't have to worry about the ingredients, or getting the broth right, or even cleaning up after you inevitably fail to finish because you accidentally made the soup too salty and the ratio of the noodles to the broth was a little off...

There's things to improve and I would prefer it if the cleanup wasn't such a gigantic chore, but maybe someday he'll make ramen so good that I forget being annoyed at having to clean the kitchen after. Anyway, what right do I have to complain? I cannot cook and I'm generally a waste of space and resources, so I gotta make myself useful by doing the dishes. ¯\_(　´∀｀)_/¯

This makes the third blog entry this year! That's one post more than January last year. Hopefully I won't drop the ball halfway through the year and be able to post more content on 2018. I think part of the problem is that I don't do "interesting" things or go to "interesting" places often. But maybe it's alright to write about mundane things also! Small victories are also victories, so I think it's okay to count them!

I'll try hard this year too.

Taichou Izakaya

Ponce St., Davao City

facebook: @taichouizakaya

Ramenikko Ramen House

1F Mitaji Bldg., Cor. Tionko and V Mapa St.

Davao City

facebook: ramenikko