Namanama

It was a so-so day and since I arrived at my destination earlier than expected, I decided to re-visit one of my favorite eating places: NamaNama.

I think I already ate here like a year ago or less but I can remember this place well because they've got good ramen and very affordable at that :)

NamaNama

Location: Eastwood City, Libis, QC

How to get there:

If coming from Cubao, take a jeep that goes to IPI or De Castro.

If coming from Ortigas, take a jeep that goes to De Castro or Jenny's. Go down at IPI then take a jeep that goes to Cubao.

Look for the Cybermall. It's just at the end of the whole strip starting from Citibank.

This one's on the 3rd floor.

And there I was again at this small place. I actually wonder why there's not much people in this place but I'd think it's prolly the location. You'd actually have to know it exists so you'd go to it and if the mall's closed, it's closed too unlike the others that stay open late.

Anyways, that also means it's good time for me to focus on checking the food rather than the girls :P

Well, ain't that a cute background?

Well maybe you won't agree, but for me, it's Japanese-y enough for me (yeah, they look like Filipinos, fine). Also if you've noticed, they've got these weird chairs with holes on it. It's modern funky but I personally don't like in a practical sense.

Namanama actually comes from the combined names of the owner's (Leslie Yao) children: Nathan and Matti. They opened April 2009 in Eastwood. Leslie also owns Zuppa Cafe, the one just beside Namanama. Obviously, apart from the name, it's a Japanese-Asian fusion food place with mostly staples and some reinvented ones. Mostly rice plates but there are some noodle dishes as well.

And as mentioned, this place got very affordable prices :) And believe me, when you see their servings, you'd say "Whoah? Really? This much for that only?". But of course, you'd also say, the catch may be the taste. That's what we'll see then...

I remember ordering a seafood ramen back then and although I really wanted to get that again, my urge to try something else won. So I went and ordered this...

Name: Chicken Teriyaki Ramen (regular size)

Price: 95php

It's bigger in real-life :)

Oh if you noticed, it says regular. It would prolly take 1 and a half of a normal person (not my appetite in short) to finish this. So if you took the large one, there's prolly about 2-3 persons for that size. I'm just trying to describe serving size hehe.

But to be honest, this one isn't as good as the seafood ramen.

So the serving size is big: soup, noodles and the chicken part itself. No problems there.

The noodles firmness is good, not soggy and very tasty.

The chicken itself is (boneless thankfully) soft, slightly spicy (due to the loads of pepper) but inconveniently un-cut. While it looks cool that there's a big serving, it's a hassle that you'd have to cut the chicken so you can actually eat it. And I don't really taste the teriyaki much. :( 

Which now brings us to the soup: plain spicy, all peppery soup. It's fine prolly for peeps like me who likes pepper in soup but it's just...too much I guess. Don't get me wrong, it's not that awful but it ain't appetizing either.

So this one I'd say is a partial fail.

Name: Asian Grilled Pork Belly

Price: 135php

Asian grilled pork belly

And yes, I did order 2 dishes. Not because the ramen wasn't so good. I did order two because I was thinking it would take me a while to return here with all my backlog food stuff and whatnot haha.

So this one, also with big servings, was the one to win the night for me.

The pork was really thin and crispy and you can taste the marinate all over it. The grill was perfectly done to lock in the juices and sauce especially in the fatty parts. You don't even need a knife to cut the meat which is wonderful and you can actually eat all of it except that small piece of bone. It has this salty, slightly burnt taste with a small hint of garlic.

The laksa rice had a slight hint of spice and was pretty good too. It wasn't strong enough to overpower the pork's taste which is good because most of the time, in other places, it's the reverse. I didn't really get to use the chili and calamansi because there was no need to :)

Funnily enough, a good 10 minutes after I started eating, a bunch of people came in and looked at what I was eating and ordered the same. :)

I think I am going back soon hahaha.

~2GBTG!