Maginhawa gets an exceptional new 10-seater ramen bar

Quezon City's vibrant Maginhawa Street continues to evolve as a new ramen joint opens this week.

Mugen Ramenya mimics authentic ramen joints in Japan. You place your order — and pay — as soon as you enter the small space. It has an L-shaped bar that consists of only 10 seats, each like a tiny office cube that has all the amenities you might need, alongside a water dispenser.

Then you wait for your orders to arrive, eat them, and then exit on the opposite end from where you enter.

Everything feels intentionally small in Mugen, which means infinity or unlimited in Japanese. It has a short-focused menu — think appetizers, ramen, chahan, desserts, and drinks — and yes, it's all of just 10 seats in size.

But its so-called smallness works because it allows for concentrated focus on the food, which is straight-out delicious. You will leave the place with a full heart and an even fuller tummy.

Mugen specializes in hakata style ramen, rich and creamy bowls of goodness originating from the Fukuoka, Japan.

At the opening, Chef Jorge Mendez described his ramen creations as having "bold flavors."

"Rich and fatty in the mouth, and still light and clean as you finish," he said.

The three ramen variants of Mugen — tonkotsu, wagyu, and crab — deliver on that front.

The Wagyu Ramen, especially, is so rich and special with the golden yolk, the tendon, and the A5 beef, which arrives pink and rare and gets cooked by the broth as you sip and slurp.

Mugen also has a selection of tsukemen or dipping ramen, and abura soba or dry ramen, for good measure.

You can choose to start the meal with appetizers. There's karaage, tender pieces of fried chicken; ebi nuggets, which are a bit mushy but there's a market for that; and best of all, the five-piece gyoza with its light dipping sauce poured right before being served. 

And for good measure, Mugen also serves a selection of chahan (fried rice) not unlike ramen: pork, wagyu, and crab. They come in either 30g or 50g. If we may, choose the smaller serving because you'll want to leave room for dessert. 

The crab claw bun is an off-the-menu item, a beautifully plated little dish that consists of a meaty crab claw between perfectly toasted buns. It's reminiscent of Modan, Mendez's remarkable private dining space with an evolving menu.

The same is true with Mugen's the earl grey ice cream offering, with towers of delicate buckwheat feuillentine lodged into the house-made ice cream that make it look like sculpture, a work of art that belongs in a private fine dining space. 

Completing the dessert selection are the mochi made with match and ricotta, and fried corn milk and with matcha.

Price points at Mugen revolve around P500, with the ramen selection starting at P500 upward and other offerings at downward P500.

At Mugen's first ever seating, Mendez said, "Over the years, I've had the chance to go back and forth to Japan, learning different things from different chefs, trying different dishes and sitting in quiet ramen bars, [experiencing] some places where you don't really need to speak, just to eat."

In his search, he's come to realize that "every ramen is uniquely different. Every bowl a work of art, every chef's hand is different, every story is different. Every chef has his own different ways of expressing things."

"Instead of comparing different ramen [styles], I wanted to create something unique, something that's really us. That's what Mugen is," Mendez said.

Mugen doesn't take reservations and is only open for dinner service, from 4pm-11pm, in the meantime.

108-B Maginhawa Street, Quezon City. Instagram. — LA, GMA Integrated News