IRASHAIMASE!

I love Japanese cuisine because it is usually fresh and healthy. Japanese are very particular when it comes to their food. Most of all, I like their sushi a lot. Sushi is a Japanese dish of specially prepared vinegared rice, usually with some sugar and salt, combined with a variety of ingredients, such as seafood, vegetables, and occasionally tropical fruits. Its looks mainly captivate me to like it and most of all, its taste. There are some Japanese restaurants that have got under my skin and that I love to return to. Restaurants that instigate me because of the place, the people, the light and often if not always, the food they serve. In this post, I will talk about Rai Rai Ken. It is the number one in my list and that is why I reserved a space for it in my website.

What is RAI RAI KEN?

Before going into the core, let us define what these words mean. (Yes, I did my research. You are welcome. Wink!) 

Rai Rai is an old Chinese word for “welcome” and Ken for “restaurant”. These words are enunciated especially if someone wants to go to an appealing, fascinating and scrumptious food place. In the Philippines, it was in 1993 when Benjie (the owner of the restaurant chain) decided to put up his own restaurant at Bautista St. in Makati City, Manila.  It was named Master Chow before and was serving Filipino breakfast and other Karinderya foods. Then they started to offer Ramen or Japanese noodles in their menu.  The success story started there.

As of 2018, Rai Rai Ken blossoms into a fresh upgrade. These can be noticed by looking at their logo design. A much fluid and ascending stroke signifies the brand direction of delighting their customers into higher level. The color schemes are much stern, calm and fresh which transcends to their interior design and feel of the store bringing the customers to a much engaging but relaxing mood that compliments to their improved product offering. Talk about Millennials and Generation X! Most of all, they adjusted their menus to capture the taste buds of Filipinos.

Chefs preparing my food.

What are my favorites?

When Rai Rai Ken is mentioned, it is usually associated to Ramen. Well, their Ramen is pretty good at least for an Asian girl like me, but apart from that, they also serve other menu like ippinryori, teriyaki, teppanyaki and many more. Some of them give me hard time to pronounce properly, lol. The following are my picks.

1. Ramen

I love sipping its soup. Ramen soup is made of the soup base as well as the added flavor. A soup base is almost always from pork bones, shellfish, beef bones, fish, or even vegetables. It was said that for ramen craftsmen, original flavors were produced after doing hundreds of trial and error experiments in combining soup base and the added flavors.

What is your choice?

2. California Maki

I love sushi! Just look at the picture! :P

Yum!

3. Tempura and Gyoza

…because who doesn’t love shrimps? (Except to those allergic to this food.)

4. Mungbean Sprout

Tawgi is one of the Filipino foods I always choose because of its high potassium content plus it tastes like very fresh noodles. Crunchiness in every chew.

Tawgi mo diha :D

5. Beef Teriyaki

The meat is broiled and glazed with soy sauce and little bit of sugar. It is the sauce that makes the taste mouth-watering and delicious for me.

Quickfacts:

Rairaiken is the first Ramen House established in Japan in 1910.

In the Philippines, Rairaiken started in 1993 and has been the Market Leader for 20 years.

Know more about them at rairaiken.com.ph

Cheers! :P

Let me know what are your favorite Japanese cuisine as well!