UCC Park Cafe Express

Remember my craving for ramen that was an epic fail because it was never satisfied?

UCC!

Last Saturday, Mia and I had a lunch date in UCC Park Cafe Express to check out their ramen.  This branch is supposedly the only UCC branch that had ramen.  For the first time I was happy that the weather was gloomy.  Nothing beats yummy soup on a rainy day!  I was excited.  Haha, ramen dork!

Mia's perfect weekend= iPad + Katy Perry + Nyudles

Here's a little 411 on ramen ( I got this from their menu.  A for Afort so please read on.):



Tonkotsu Ramen -Shoyu Base P359

 Tonkotsu ramen is noodle with pork bone broth.  There are 3 options for the base:

• Shio- This means salt in Japanese.  The lightest ramen, pale, clear, yellowsh broth using salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish and seaweed.
• Shoyu- This means soy sauce.  Typically has a brown and clear colored broth base of chicken and vegetable (sometimes fish or beef) stock with plenty of soy sauce.  This results with a soup that is tangy, salty and savory yet still fairly light on the palate.
• Miso- This is a relative new comer.  It was developed around 1965 in Hokkaido.  Broth combines copious(What does copious mean?) amounts of miso and is blended with tonkotsu to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and hearty soup.  Miso ramen tends to have a robust tangy flavor.

Tantanmen ramen is a classic Chinese Sichuan cuisine.  It consists of spicy sauce containing preserved vegetables, chili oil, minced pork and scallions served over noodles.

After. Simut sarap.

I heard more raves about the Tantan but since it is spicy, I opted for the Tonkotsu.  I usually order miso base for my ramen but I was kinda iffy with going with miso because Tonkotsu has milk.  I couldn't imagine my miso with milk.  Our server, Cris, was nice enough to explain to me how it would taste.  She was very patient with me changing orders for a million times.  I gave her tip that wasn't against my will (and it usually is, so this is a big deal).

You can request for soup refill for P100.  Additional Ajitsuke Tamago (Japanese seasoned egg)/ butter/ nori sheet for P40.  They have other add-ons but I just listed those that I think would matter.

Mia with their coffee drip

I told Karl where we ate and he got jealous.  I definitely would like to come back and try the spicy noodles.  If you are a male or have a male's appetite like me, one bowl is not enough (see picture above).  There's pay parking (my pet peeve), but if you don't plan to stay long, you don't have to pay.  No pay parking for 90 minutes or less stay.  Lesson, no dates here! No frills, walang kaibigan ibigan.

UCC Park Cafe Express  is located in Petron Gas Station, Edsa corner Pasay Road.  It is open from 6:30 am to 10:00 pm.  You can contact them through (02) 846-2233 or online.