Nomama (2x) But You

By Anton Diaz
Topics: #Restaurants, Food

A lot of foodies have been waiting for Chef Him Uy de Baron to open his own restaurant.

After gaining a following from his successful catering gigs, he finally decided to open Nomama — a Japanese restaurant with a twist, focusing on artisanal ramen with ingredients made from scratch.

Nomama in Japanese means “That’s it”, but this resto got its name from a play on words that it’s “not your mama’s ramen”.

Locavores would be happy to know that he supports the slow food movement and only uses the freshest local and organic produce in Manila whenever possible. He is committed to the same advocacy as Chef Sandralyn Hataway of Tourné, Chef Tatung, and Chef Sau del Rosario of Le Bistro Vert.

The BEST RAMEN in Manila Series 2013:


 
The restaurant’s minimalist ambiance is bodega-inspired with its cement flooring, unfinished ceiling, and wooden finish designed by Carlo Calma.

Nomama Restaurant Menu
To Start With: Gyoza, Raw Compositions, Greeneries
Noodles: Ramen, Stir Fries | Something Else: Beef, Fish, Chicken
Something Else: Pork, Vegetables, Tempura, Sides | Dessert
Prix fixe Menu: 3 courses
Beverages


The boys commented that they loved the place because it was very spacious, great for running around and playing hide and seek. It’s fun to see them play but we had to control them so as not to bother the other diners. (Any tips on how to control 3 little boys?)


★ Soft Shell Crab Salad (P260 +10% service charge). Crisp soft shell crab, dairy buttermilk dressing, tomato and cucumber, greens.

I’m not a fan of Soft Shell crab (because of the fear of eating a disgusting part of the crab) but this salad changed my mind. The crab was crisp on the outside but very soft and flavorful on the inside.


Nomama Ramen (P290 +10% service charge). House pork stock, special miso-sesame blend, chashu, tamago.

We decided to go with a non-spicy ramen for our boys. The soup was milky and served warm (we prefer our ramen piping hot, though). We found the soup serving a bit small for its price. The noodles, chashu and tamago (soft-boiled egg) were OK.

I regret not ordering the Braised Ox Tongue and Chili Tofu Sauce Ramen.

Nomama-19.jpg
Thai Green Curry Ramen (P310 +10% service charge). Homemade green curry paste in coconut broth, seared chicken fillet, bok choy and peas.

The curry ramen was highly recommended by the chef because it’s made from scratch. It was just a bit weird because it felt like we were drinking spicy Thai Curry.

In our group, I was the only one who appreciated it. Indeed, there’s no other ramen like it.


★ Curry Short Ribs with Roasted Kobacha (P540 +10% service charge). Braised short ribs, homemade Japanese curry, red wine, Japanese pumpkin.

I must confess that we enjoyed the non-ramen items more, like the Curry Short Ribs.

The short ribs were very soft — even the bones were also soft! The curry and red wine sauce was very tasty and penetrated every inch of meat and fat.


A great addition to the collection of photos of our boys with the famous chefs of Manila. 🙂


★ Kit Kat Bar (P175 +10% service charge). Homemade peanut butter and chocolate bar with raspberry paint.

This was yummy! It reminded us of the Chocolate Candy Bar of The Goose Station.  The chocolate portion was really hard, but once we were able to break it down into pieces, it became crunchy and yummy like Kit Kat.


★ Wasabi Whoopie Pie (P150 +10% service charge).

A winning dessert! We also loved this Wasabi Cream Whoopie Pie, which was baked by Anita for Nomama. 🙂

The chef promised to have other flavors of whoopie pies in the future.

Overall, I think Nomama is still finding its groove. The pricing is a bit on the high side, especially for the QC-Tomas Morato area. The waiters don’t know how to take orders yet (so make sure to specify your order clearly). Then again, where else can you find a ramen place with really good non-ramen food and divine desserts?

When it comes to innovation, this resto truly deserves a round of applause — there’s no other resto like Nomama Nomama But You *clap* *clap* *clap* *clap* 🙂

Nomama by Chef Him Uy de Baron
G/F FSS Bldg 2, Scout Tuason cor Scout Castor St.,
Quezon City, Philippines
Email: nomama.ramen@gmail.com
Mobile: +63 917 522-8272/
Phone: +632 5422558
Facebook: Nomama

Driving Directions: Nomama is easy to find. From E. Rodriguez St., turn into Tomas Morato. Turn left into A. Roces where you will drive past Taste of LA and Heavenly Chocolates on your right. Turn right into Scout Tuason. You should see Nomama at the corner of Scout Castor. It is right across Zucchini and diagonally across Max’s.

Related Blog Post: DCF | Coming Soon: An Artisanal Ramen Restaurant

The BEST RAMEN in Manila Series 2013:

Live an Awesome Life,

Anton 
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Call or Text Me: +63917 5683-627 (LOVE-OAP)
Follow Me FacebookTwitterFlickr Youtube

Full Disclosure: Nothing to disclose. We paid for our meals. We are not connected in any way with the owners of this establishment or the PR group promoting this establishment.

★ Happily recommended 🙂

P.S. The ramen craze is about to get interesting because I heard that a big, authentic ramen house in Japan is invading Manila soon! Ramen God will be happy. 🙂

21 thoughts on “Nomama (2x) But You”

  5. interesting! “Artisan Ramen” is a fitting monicker, if you read the Japanese characters on the sign outside. But I wonder why it writes “ramen” in Katakana o_O.

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  7. Great! Good that this resto is located at QC Scout area… Will definitely try this! Thanks Sir Anton for this posting 🙂

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  8. I have to agree on the waiters not knowing how to take orders! I was there opening night and it was all right, yun lang – the waiter kept forgetting to get us water. We first asked for it when we sat down, nakuha nalang namin – paalis na kami.
    Price is a bit on the high end.. Even if with 15% discount still paid a heftly 1.7K! Yikes!
    a MUST TRY is their Mushroom Gyoza!! YUMMY!!!

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  10. I’m a ramen fan and if you like ramen, this is not the place to be. props for being creative though, but for me, it doesn’t work. yes, non-ramen items would be a better choice. the kitkat bar was great, and Anton was right, price is on the high side. the food presentation is fancy, if only it tasted as good as it looks.

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  14. I’ve tried this place on soft-opening, and found the food acceptable. Seems to be inspired by (or copied from) Momofoku Ramen Bar in NY, which serves $16 ramen.

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  17. just noticed that the spelling for the japanese pumpkin is mistaken…it should be kabocha. i noticed this with nomama posts of other bloggers as well. @_@

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  18. We were looking for a place to have a quick lunch when we noticed Nomama and went it to check it out, it was kinda on the high side (yes even with the discount) so we ended up having lunch somewhere else, but looking at the food that was being prepared then, I’d definitely go back to try it out.

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  20. tried nomama 4 times ordering different items each time i visited, and was unfortunately disappointed every time. The ramen was too sweet, servings were too little, and yes the price was too expensive for the amount of food you are getting. I hope they improve because there is not much choices for ramen in the t. morato area.

    Reply

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