divasoria

nomama artisanal ramen sounds like a place you’d love to hate. apart from bespoke (even sartorial or fusion), artisanal is one of those buzz words you should avoid – it is either overused or used inappropriately. admittedly, i had my doubts at first. but after hearing good things about the place from different people PLUS it was in my neighborhood, i was really getting very curious.

tucked in a residential area in quezon city, nomama is bright yet still has a nondescript air about it. it is the brainchild of chef him uy of east, that tiny resto inside of rustan’s.

i had googled the night before so i knew what to order and what to avoid. we settled for the following:

the mushroom gyoza looked like the traditional japanese ones but when we looked for the sauce, the waiter said it was already incorporated in the dumpling.

think of it as a vegetarian xiao long bao – a soupy yet crunchy XLB. it was light and refreshing.

the seafood kilawin sounds very filipino from the get-go. that said, unlike the traditional kilawin which had a more brine-y taste to the seafood, nomama’s version was succulent and didn’t have that overwhelming vinegar-y taste.

the beef tataki with sweet potato chips was my favorite. tataki is a japanese way of preparing meat or fish, seared very briefly over a hot flame or pan, briefly marinated in vinegar, sliced thinly and seasoned with ginger. nomama’s version had hints of garlic and chili. and if you scoop out the tataki using the chips and top it with a little alfalfa sprout, this combination melds into a delightful mix of textures and flavors.

the nomama ramen had a shoyu-based(soy) broth with chasyu(pork slices) and topped with a beckoning “ramen” egg or ajitsuke tamago. ajitsuke tamago is basically a soft-boiled egg flavored and marinated overnight. although the ramen and broth itself were just ok, the egg was done wonderfully.

we ended the meal with the flourless chocolate cake with miso salted caramel, which seemed like something out of the “hip” food catalogue(again?). and since i was a sucker for anything salted caramel, i had to try it. the cake itself was pretty dense but i loved the idea of the salty bits incorporated in the batter. the caramel was also more tampered in sweetness.

as compliments of the chef, he sent over a slice of buttermilk poundcake with a wasabi-chocolate sauce. the chef mentioned he rarely bakes so he wanted us to try it. i really liked the poundcake because it didn’t taste that rich and heavy, probably because of the buttermilk used. the sauce had a stronger kick of wasabi, more than the usual when used as a dessert. i told him i found it interesting and he thought i didn’t like it. interesting is not exactly bad, you know.

what i like most about nomama is that the place and the dishes surprised me! it was all sorts of good things rolled into one – modern, tastey and homey all at the same time. i liked it so much, i had dinner there two nights in a row. it’s that kind of restaurant you’d love to go back just to try out the other stuff on the menu.

Nomama Artisanal Ramen

G/F FSS Bldg 2, Scout Tuason cor
Scout Castor Sts, Quezon City
+6329214913
+639175228272