Common Ground at Jipan

hubby and i dont exactly enjoy all of each others activities.  i for one dont like riding when he races on or off the track, and he doesnt care to sing when i take the mic at a karaoke bar.  but if there is one thing we both love, its japanese food! in fact, when funds were still from our parents pockets, we would already indulge in buffets at saisaki.  we could go back to the buffet tables countless times and still end up with flat tummies!

now that age is creeping up on us, we really try to opt for set meals.  a few weeks ago, i was forced to roam around the mall waiting for my day to start when my lunch hunger pangs pointed me to jipan.

i know this place has been there forever!  but honestly, we just havent gotten around to eating there.  i ordered an ebi tonkotsu and was happily satisfied so of course, the next thing i did was tell hubby and before we knew it, we found ourselves having dinner there!

the menu is quite simple and it didnt take long before hubby found the ramen page.  he was torn between the chashu ramen and the karakuchi negi ramen.  an inquiry from the waitress revealed that she knew the restaurants menu well and that was a very good sign for me.  i absolutely hate it when a waiter is asked for an opinion and there is none to be given.

hubby finally decided on the karakuchi ramen which was described to be a spicy miso based hot noodle dish.

this doesnt come with the egg but you could opt to have them place a boiled egg for a mere P10 addition to your bill.

the ramen turned out to be our liking.  the soup was delicious, although hubby thought it could have been spicier (maybe we could ask them to custom cook it for us next time, ill see…).  the pork was soft and flavorful and the noodles were cooked to perfection!

i had ordered california maki (?!) although im not so sure why i picked this among the sushi/sashimi menu.  i was pressed for time and i just blurted out what was at the top of my head.

it tasted fine except i wish there was maguro in it with the cucumber and mango.  next time i think i will try their tempura sushi roll.

for my main dish, i had okonomiyaki.  ive never had this dish and had wanted to try it at kagura in little tokyo where it is a house specialty.  i thought that i should have something to compare it to when we go there so i went ahead and ordered one.

this is made with batter mixed with shredded cabbage, pork, and squid.  a special sauce is added on top which contributed a sweet japanese taste to it.  you could top it with tabasco sauce to add an extra kick.  it was pretty good that i was able to finish 3/4 of the japanese pancake!

hubby and i agreed that we found a good authentic japanese restaurant, different from the fusion versions that keep popping up now a days.  as we both love traditional japanese food, and wish we could always travel back to tokyo for our well loved ramen and kaiten sushi (and pig out!), jipan has given us an option close to home!

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