RAMEN NAGI offers a gourmet version of ramen that is hailed as the best in Tokyo. It has been awarded the top spot in the National Ramen of the Year Competitions for the last two years (2011 and 2012). In Hongkong, the Ramen Nagi franchise is known as BUTAO, after its popular signature ramen, which Filipinos line up hours for just to get a taste. 🙂
Finally, Ramen Nagi has opened in Manila at the 5th Floor of SM Aura Premier. The Manila franchise is owned by Plains & Prints couple founders Roxanne and Erickson Farillas, together with Michael James Chua, Carissa Coscolluela, Enti Coscolluela, and Avi Siy-Chua.
As the Filipino foodie’s taste for ramen matures, one would prefer more rich and bolder flavors vs. the lighter variety. And once you taste the richer gourmet version of Ramen Nagi, there’s no going back to light and lesser quality ramen.
You’ve got to check out why foodies are raving about Ramen Nagi Butao…
The BEST RAMEN in Manila Series 2013:
- RAMEN NAGI: BUTAO Gourmet Ramen now in Manila! @SMAuraPremier
- RAMEN DAISHO UKKOKEI: Hakata Tonkatsu Ramen and Yakibuta Chahan!
- TAMPOPO たんぽぽ: Deluxe Black Pig Shabu Ramen and Top Grade Black Pig Tonkatsu!
- IKKORYU FUKUOKA RAMEN Philippines’ Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen!
- RAMEN SANTOUKA PHILIPPINES: Legendary Hokkaido Ramen now in Manila!
- RAMEN YUSHOKEN: Guide to the Best Ramen House in the South!
- MITSUYADO SEI-MEN’s Double Cheese Sauce Tsukemen!
- NOMAMA (2x) But You
- UCC’s Tan Tan Mian Tonkotsu Ramen!
- GENYA Tonkotsu Ramen
- RAMEN BAR – One of the Best Authentic Japanese Ramen Places in Manila?
- TAMAGOYA! Ramen
- UKOKKEI RAMEN RON – One of the Best Shoyu Ramen in Manila!
Ramen Nagi is located at the 5th floor restaurant area of SM Aura Premier, beside Yabu.
It’s designed as a modern ramen shop with different infographics and illustrations.
Their mascot is a caricature of Ramen Master Ikuta Satoshi.
Ramen Master Ikuta is young, creative, and uber passionate about ramen.
Check out: RAMEN NAGI BUTAO 豚王: Black King, Red King & Green King Ramen in Manila!
These leather sofa seats are the best seats in Ramen Nagi.
We met Chef Ikuta’s team — Atsushi Kobayashi and Ryoichi Nishio, who ensure the highest quality of ramen in the Manila store.
Check out Ramen Nagi Manila Menu.
You can customize your ramen any which way you want. They have four standard ramen — Butao King, Black King (garlic, squid ink), Red King (spicy), Green King (basil, cheese), plus a limited ramen which rotates through their other ramen flavors like the Ebi King (shrimp).
You can check the “Chef Recommendation” box to go for the standard way the chef intended the ramen to taste. Make sure to go for Extra Hard noodles and the Pork Belly options, too.
I love the garlic served as part of the condiments.
You can use the squeezer to get the garlic juices out to put in your ramen.
ORIGINAL KING BUTAO (P390). Fire Sauce, Seabura, Tonkotsu.
For starters, you can order the signature tonkotsu broth to appreciate the rich, fresh, and aromatic base ramen. The broth is slow boiled pork bones for over a day with secret Japanese seasonings.
This is the safest ramen to choose if it is your first time in Ramen Nagi.
TAMAGO (P50).
You can add side dishes of Tamago (Egg), and…
NORI (P40).
…a sheet of seaweeds (nori) which was a hit with our boys. 🙂
✮ GREEN KING MIDORIO (P410). Basil, Cheese, Tonkotsu.
I love this Italian – Japanese flavor integration. It’s like eating pesto spaghetti with rich tonkotsu broth. At first you can’t imagine how good it will taste, but once you taste it, it slowly grows on you. 🙂
✮ BLACK KING KUROO (P410). Black Ball, Garlic, Tonkotsu.
Here’s another favorite. Very garlicky ramen with squid ink tonkotsu broth! 🙂
The universal ramen noodle is millimeter-thin Hakata-sytle. Best to order the very hard variant.
Don’t forget to order the Belly, which is a thick chunk of pork belly with a thin layer of fat. Sulit!
✮ LIMITED KING – EBI KING EBIO (P410). Shrimp Powder, Shrimp, Tonkotsu.
When we visited, the Limited King variant available was the Ebi King, considered a special favorite of Japanese foodies. It uses shrimp tonkotsu broth, which was a bit on the salty side. But it’s unique and breaks the monotony of the regular tonkotsu broth.
Each bowl is just enough for one person to enjoy. Though I noticed that there was more noodle than broth.
Glad to meet our friends, Carol and Vince, with Erickson during the Saturday night dinner. 🙂
So far, RAMEN NAGI has the best ramen in town, especially if you are looking for a richer gourmet ramen version. We love the Black King, Green King, and Ebi King. I can’t wait for them to offer the Truffle Ramen King version! The Boys love the Butao King version. 🙂
Each bowl of ramen is already a complete and satisfying meal. They only offer and specialize in ramen for now. I hope that they make dessert options available soon.
Budget is P500/person. Make sure to visit early and during the non-peak times to avoid the crowd.
RAMEN NAGI by Ramen Master Ikuta Satoshi
5th Floor SM Aura Premier (Beside Yabu)
2nd branch located in SM Mall of Asia
Email: ramennagi.manila@gmail.com
Facebook: Ramen Nagi Manila
The BEST RAMEN in Manila Series 2013:
- RAMEN NAGI: BUTAO Gourmet Ramen now in Manila! @SMAuraPremier
- RAMEN DAISHO UKKOKEI: Hakata Tonkatsu Ramen and Yakibuta Chahan!
- TAMPOPO たんぽぽ: Deluxe Black Pig Shabu Ramen and Top Grade Black Pig Tonkatsu!
- IKKORYU FUKUOKA RAMEN Philippines’ Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen!
- RAMEN SANTOUKA PHILIPPINES: Legendary Hokkaido Ramen now in Manila!
- RAMEN YUSHOKEN: Guide to the Best Ramen House in the South!
- MITSUYADO SEI-MEN’s Double Cheese Sauce Tsukemen!
- NOMAMA (2x) But You
- UCC’s Tan Tan Mian Tonkotsu Ramen!
- GENYA Tonkotsu Ramen
- RAMEN BAR – One of the Best Authentic Japanese Ramen Places in Manila?
- TAMAGOYA! Ramen
- UKOKKEI RAMEN RON – One of the Best Shoyu Ramen in Manila!
SM AURA FOOD TRIP SERIES 2013
- SM AURA EATS: 10 Most Awesome Restaurants @SMAuraPremier in 2013!
- RAMEN NAGI “BUTAO”: Gourmet Ramen now in Manila! @SMAuraPremier
- PAUL: Boulangerie, Patisserie, Restaurant, and Salon de Thé in Manila! (First Look)
- SHINE Bakery & Cafe: Chorizo Rice & Chashu! @ShineBakeryCafe @SMAuraPremier
- OGETSU HIME: “Goddess of Food”: Japanese A la Carte Dining by the Villavicencio’s
- GREEKA KOUZINA: Greek Food & Arni Lemonato (Roast Lamb) @SMAuraPremier
- LUGANG CAFE: What to Order in the Best Contemporary Taiwanese Resto in Manila?
- TAMARIND by Chef Tum: Level Up of Jatujak Thai Resto @SMAuraPremier
- YAKITORI ONE @ FOOD ON FOUR: What’s Your Favorite Yakitori @YakitoriOne?
- YABU: The House of Katsu Hype?
- COCA Restaurant in Manila! @SMAuraPremier
Related Blog Post: SM AURA: Premier Shopping & Foodie Supermarket Haven + Sky Park @SMAuraPremier Taguig! (First Impressions)
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
P.S. Here’s the complete list of ramen flavors available. They plan to offer the other flavors when operations have stabilized.
We are SO raring to eat here!!! How spicy is the red king by the way? Was supposed to try it in Hong Kong but the filipina waitress warned me I might not be able to handle it… he he he he he!
“Squeezer”> I believe it’s a garlic press. 🙂
The Limited King was so so bad that I didn’t finish my ramen. You can really taste that the shrimp flavor just powder. Definitely not fresh! Sobrang malansa ang lasa ng sabaw. Don’t dare try the Limited King. Overall, Hong Kong’s Butao id a lot better. The soup in HK is richer, pork belly is more tender and the tamago is way tastier in HK. I hope they improve on their dishes!
its all Tonkotsu so i can assume all pork broth, no non pork broth?
I was deceived to try this place by the social media hype and based on my dining experience, this place is far from a traditional ramen house and has more of a fast-food ajisen ramen vibe. I ordered the “black” ramen made from squid ink and from the initial taste alone I already knew that I wouldn’t be finishing my bowl. Maybe my palate is accustomed to a classic ramen taste but I wasn’t too appeased with the different fusions of added flavors. Although the broth tastes good, it just doesn’t taste like I’m eating ramen anymore. I’m also not a fan of their noodles either, it looks and tastes exactly like egg wonton noodles. I probably might give this place another try but my conclusion is the popularity of this place is based totally on hype and not taste.
Ukkokei Ramen Ron on Pasay Road is still king!
Too much hype on this place. This is the only ramen I’ve had in the past 3 months that I did not finish simply because it was not good. Ukkokei, Daisho and Hanamaruken are all better choices. Go around Metro Manila and you’ll definitely find better ramen than here. Has Awesome Planet lost it’s credibility to do reviews?
I haven’t been to Ramen Nagi, however, I like the idea of customizing your ramen – similar to Ichiran, a ramen resto that we tried in Shinjuku, Tokyo ttp://www.ichiran.co.jp/english/
I could be wrong but I think Ramen Nagi is soon to open in Greenbelt, at the former location of Yomenya Goemon : )
Hi where in sm aura? 3rd floor? ground floor?
in the 5th floor.