Mitsuyado Sei-Men Revisited

We last ate in Mitsuyado Sei-Men barely three weeks ago. Yet here we were again, Maica, Mom, and I, about to eat there again. It was my decision to have dinner there for two specific reasons: 1) It was raining, and some hot ramen would be perfect for this weather. 2) I really was curious to try the other offerings they had there. And no, I would not let the fact that part of the restaurant's name sounds like a male bodily fluid prevent me from eating here again.

We started off with some cold brews. Mom got this Hitachino Nest brew while I went with my old reliable, San Mig Light. I did get to try a swig from Mom's bottle, but I couldn't tell the difference between the two since I already took a gulp from mine. Maybe next time I'll try it before drinking my familiar beer.

Foreign brew for my Mom, old reliable for me

Mom got the chicken karaage (better than the first time) and this Chashu Pao. A take on the Chinese cua pao filled with some slices of chashu. Chashu seems to me like a Japanese version of the Chinese tsar siew, but since I haven't done any research don't take my word for it. She did say it was very good, and she finished the whole bun. The big drawback I saw was that the sauce was too drippy and it soiled the sleeves of my Mom's jacket.

Mitsuyaado Sei-Men's Chashu Pao

I originally wanted to try the Cheese Tsukemen but since Maica decided to get that also, i switched to option number 1b: Curry Tsukemen. Feeling very hungry, I decided to order the large portion.

Right off the bat, the biggest difference between this and my previous order, Jumbo Chashu Tsukemen regular size, is the lack of chashu slices. But that was about the only complaint I had about my dish. The taste was your typical Japanese curry taste. It had a medium kick of heat after every slurp. There were very tender chunks of meat (I couldn't tell if it was beef or pork, but damn were they good) mixed in with the curry sauce, along with some fish cake slices.

The taste was great! I had a great time devouring my meal, partly because I was starving, partly because the hot curry dipping sauce made me feel warm on a cold, rainy night, and mostly because my order was very, very delicious. Plus having ice cold beer to wash the food down was a great bonus, and helped warm my insides a lot more.

My dinner – Large Curry Tsukemen

As with the first time I ate in Mitsuyado Sei-Men, I once again finished even the dipping sauce. And to be honest I also ate about 1/4th of Maica's Double Cheese Tsukemen order. That was also a great tasting dish, but I liked this Curry Tsukemen better.

On a side note, Maica did find her dish delicious, but ever since getting sick she hasn't been able to eat as much food as she used to.

Clean plate! Empty beer bottle! Used moist towelette! One satisfied Gani!

In closing, Mitsuyado Sei-Men is fast becoming a favorite go-to restaurant for myself and my Mom. The food is worth the price, service is relatively fast, and best of all the restaurant wasn't even full on a Friday night after payday!

Oh and if you still have space for dessert, try the Japanese bakery beside the restaurant. In fact I think it's a sister company since there is a door from Mitsuyado Sei-Men to the bakery (whose name I am totally forgetting, sorry). I got the chocolate mousse for take out so I could share it with Martina, and it was very delicious! A bit too sweet, but delicious nonetheless.

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Amateur Review - Mitsuyado Sei-Men

July 14, 2014 — My mom wanted to treat us to dinner at this ramen place she was raving about. Boy was I glad we ate there. The name of the place? Mitsuyado Sei-Men.

According to my mom, this place became known because of this cheese tsukemen dish they serve. What is tsukemen? Apparently it's ramen that is served separately from the broth. So it's sort of like dipping the noodles in the broth before you eat it.

The restaurant's facade

The inside of Mitsuyado Sei-Men reminded me of some ramen places in Japan. They have this old school look. I'd go so far as to say the decor made it look like a "classy carinderia"  for lack of a better term.

The decor inside the restaurant

There were also tons of decor from Japan. So there really is a great Japanese vibe to the restaurant. Now that we've established the ambience, how would the food fare?

The decor inside the restaurant

Mom got some chicken karaage and gyoza for starters. They were pretty decent, not that great. Personally, I think it wasn't a good idea to get the side dishes for the simple reason that the portions of the dishes were huge. The karaage and gyoza were just extra calories. I'm not saying they tasted bad, they were okay. I've had better, and I've definitely had worse.

Chicken Karaage and Gyoza for starters

Then came my main course - Jumbo Chashu Tsukemen. This is my first time ever eating tsukemen. I never bothered to try it in Japan. What can I say about my dish? It was great. The chashu was "fork tender" and almost disintegrated if manhandled with the chopsticks.

The broth was salty but not overpowering. You could still taste the other ingredients in the broth, and they complement the chashu strips and the cold noodles. Yes, I chose to have cold noodles per the recommendation of our server. And it was definitely a good call, since the broth was relatively hot. The broth was so good I finished it up with the spoon you can see in the lower right of the picture below. I don't think you're supposed to do that, but the broth was that damn good.

Jumbo Chashu Tsukemen (regular size) for me

So would I go back there again? Absolutely. I saw a couple of items in the menu that I would love to try next time (I'm looking at you, curry ramen). The price was a bit on the high side, but it was definitely worth it. The taste was good, the service was decent, and the portions didn't leave me feeling like they skimped on ingredients like a certain ramen place we went to before.

Finally, do I have some complaints about the place? Yes. One, they don't have service water. They do have service cold tea, though. Two, the ceiling aircon drips. I had a drop splatter on my menu once, then again on my arm after I moved to the side a bit to avoid it. So if you're not careful or aware, you could be slurping on aircon drippings. I hope I didn't.

Those two faults I saw were pretty minor, well not really the second one. If that gets worse it could be an issue for other diners.

In closing, despite the two minor annoyances I would definitely recommend Mitsuyado Sei-Men to anyone who likes ramen. The food was good, the portions were decent, and the ambiance was nice. Just don't sit under the aircon vents.

For those of you interested in trying the place out, I took a picture of their address. Here you go:

Here's their address in case you want to visit

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