Miso-Ten: Ramen and Tempura Place + Giveaway

The rainy days have already started, and what comfort food better fits the bill? I say a hot bowl of freshly-cooked ramen! So with a good friend in tow, we headed to the newly-opened Miso-Ten in Robinsons Magnolia to sample the miso ramen and tendon (tempura rice bowl) goodies this new ramen and tempura destination graciously offers.

Located at the second floor of Robinsons Magnolia's Veranda, Miso-Ten is a specialized casual dining Japanese restaurant from the same company behind Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken & Grill House, Tokyo Café, Stackers Burger Cafe, Kogi Bulgogi and Parmigiano Pizzeria Ristorante. And since I've loved the restaurants I've tried from IFoods Inc., I was sure excited to give their new ramen and tendon venture a try.

Like the other restaurants in the mall's Veranda, Miso-Ten offers not just indoor dining, but also an al fresco area. However, since it was quite sunny when Stacy and I visited, we opted to get seated inside where wooden furniture and fixtures were aplenty. And while the restaurant's interior is generally simple, I like its laid-back and refreshing feel.

Click the Miso-Ten Order Form to enlarge.

Click the menu photo to enlarge.

Unlike most ramen shops in the Metro, Miso-Ten is thankfully on the more inexpensive side of the spectrum. For P275 a bowl, you can get a good miso-based ramen. You can even mix and match it to your liking by getting a Miso-Ten Order Form and ticking which options you want in your hot noodle soup bowl. If you're not so sure about the customization though, you can play it safe and choose straight from Miso-Ten's menu.

The Food

Now, let us get to the good part. Here are the Japanese dishes we had during the visit.

Mango Kani Salad (P150)

To start off our meal, we had the Mango Kani Salad which is a bowlful of cucumber slices, kani shreds and sweet diced mangoes with a good squeezing of Japanese mayonnaise. If you follow me on Instagram, you'd know how big of a fan I am of this combination of refreshing Japanese flavors. And just the way I like it, every ingredient is fresh giving the whole ensemble not just good flavor, but also a nice play in texture.

Gyoza (P140)

I'm picky when it comes to dumplings, but these Gyoza had me a little confused but in a good way. While I like my gyoza pan-fried to have a slight crunch, these bundled treats reminded me strongly of kuchai dumplings which I also love. They were more steamed rather than fried, so their skin were soft to the bite and oozes out with savory goodness.

✓ Tempura (P380 per 5pcs.)

Since we're in a ramen and tempura place, we didn't dare miss the chance to try an ala carte order of the Tempura. Okay, I know we should've tried the tendon, but we didn't want to get full just yet. Anyway, like how good tempura should be, Miso-Ten's rendition has light yet super crispy batter coating the tiger prawns. But unlike the usual accompanying sauce to tempura which is tentsuyu (made from dashi stock, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and grated daikon radish), this order comes with a sweet Teriyaki-like sauce which makes the whole order perfect alongside a bowl of steamed rice.

✓ Miso-Ten Original (P275)

For the ramen part, we had the Miso-Ten Original which has a creamy and moderately rich broth, pieces of tender, succulent and fatty chasyu pork, ajitsuke egg, green onions and sesame seeds. You can always adjust and customize your bowl through the Miso-Ten Order Form, but Stacy and I liked every spoonful of this default order. If I had to be nit-picky though, the egg noodles were a bit of a downer for me. However, for the very reasonable price, I can definitely vouch for the quality of the broth and its toppings.

Sesame Miso (P275) with Extra Roast Chicken (P35)

We wanted to try the Tan Tan Mien (P275) so badly, but since it wasn't available that time, we decided to just settle for the Sesame Miso. And honestly, it wasn't a bad idea. The broth was rich, creamy and with strong hints of sesame and even some peanut-y note. And while this bowl already came with chasyu slices, we had some Extra Roast Chicken to pimp it even further. And you know what? I actually feel like the roasted chicken is a perfect match for this already-tasty ramen variant. They were tender and meaty with a sweet and savory saucy skin that tastes even better in sesame miso broth.

✓ Roast Chicken and Black Garlic

You can always customize your ramen bowl to have roast chicken and black garlic via the Miso-Ten Order Form, but if you're not sure if you'd like them already infused in your bowl, then ask to have them served separately like what we did. In the end though, the Roast Chicken went straight in our second bowl of ramen. But for the Black Garlic, we added it little by little since we didn't want our ramen to end up having a black garlic flavor that's too potent. Based from personal experience, we liked the Black Garlic in our Tonkotsu Ramen better than in the already-flavorful Sesame Miso Ramen.

THE VERDICT

With a lot of expensive ramen houses sprouting in the Metro, it's nice and refreshing to find a ramen restaurant offering more budget-friendly options. I also like that Miso-Ten isn't just a ramen place but also a tempura haven. Since ramen and tempura are probably the two most popular Japanese food for Manileños, Miso-Ten got it right by specializing in not just either of the two, but both. So if you're a ramen and tempura lover who doesn't want to splurge that much, then I recommend you give Miso-Ten a visit.

Taste - 3.5/5
Ambiance - 4/5
Service - 4/5
Price - 4/5
Overall Value - 4/5

Miso-Ten, Robinsons Magnolia
2/F Robinsons Magnolia Veranda, Aurora Blvd.,
Valencia, Quezon City
Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 442-5914
Facebook Page
Twitter

Miso-Ten, Robinsons Place Manila
G/F Robinsons Place Manila, Adriatico St.,
Ermita, Manila
(02) 353-1864

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Now that I've shared my experience at Miso-Ten, it's time that you too have your own Miso-Ten experience. And to make everything more fun and exciting, I'll make things easier for 1 lucky winner as he/she will get P500-worth of Miso-Ten gift certificates.

Prize: (1) winner of P500-worth of gift certificates from Miso-Ten.

PLEASE READ!
Guidelines to enter the giveaway raffle:

1. Be a Metro Manila resident or someone (even not within Metro Manila) who can actually use the prizes, or have a person you'll give these prizes to in case you can't personally use them.
2. Free shipping to Metro Manila addresses only. Non-Metro Manila winners can opt to shoulder the shipping fee. (Really sorry about this.)
3. Follow the Rafflecopter mechanics below to join.
4. Make sure you do all the first nine mandatory steps to be eligible.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The giveaway raffle will run from today until June 30, 2013. The winner will be drawn the next day and will be contacted within that week. So join now and have your own ramen and tempura experience at Miso-Ten.

Disclaimer: Prizes were provided by the good folks from Miso-Ten.