MANILA -- Michelin stars are shining to Manila and the newest addition is Tokyo’s celebrated new generation ramen house – Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles at Bonifacio High Street Central in Taguig.

Brought to the Philippines by Foodee Global Concepts, the group behind Todd English Food Hall, Foo’d, Mesa, Sunnies, and others, Tsuta has the distinction of being the first and only ramen house to get the coveted star in 2016, and has successfully retained its position in the Michelin Guide until today.

During its well-attended launch in Manila (which included a boisterious sake cask opening ceremony, with Japanese drums and dancing), chef Yuki Onishi , the founder of Tsuta, was on hand to welcome the restaurant’s first guests and to get the restaurant up and running.

Onishi, a scion of a traditional ramen maker, took the basics of ramen and flipped it around, introducing elements that aren’t kosher to the dish exactly, and thereby giving diners an interesting journey filled with many surprising twists and turns in each slurp or bite.

But lest you start thinking ‘is this fusion cuisine?' it’s not. Rather, I would call it a step forward to what ramen can be. Which makes sense, as Onishi is often quoted as saying that he aims to make ramen into a noodle dish that Japan will boast about.

Indeed, ramen has taken the world by storm -- and the world is perhaps ready for some Tsuta-style ramen. (Currently, Tsuta has branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan of course, and now, the Philippines.)

Eschewing the most popular ramen broth -- tonkotsu -- in favor of his Tokyo-style broth, which is lighter and medium-bodied (great for those days that you’re craving for ramen but not wanting all that heft; this train of thought also continues with his choice of soba noodles, which is lighter as well), he starts with three broth bases which he mixes with each ramen.

These bases are MSG-free umami bombs—one is from the stock of asari clams; the other a more seafood forward stock with katakuchi, mackerel, and anchovy fish; and the last with chicken (or meat).

The first ramen type is Tsuta’s Shio Soba, which uses Okinawa sea salt and Mongolian rock salt with asari clams and seafood as its broth base (instead of the more usual chicken broth base). This makes for a very light and delicate broth.

The basic toppings with the noodles include char sui, bamboo shoots and a paste of pureed leek and green olives in truffle oil, with the latter thankfully not overpowering the rest of the dish, but rather grounds it with some body (and one hardly notices the truffle oil).

Although what one unerringly notices in the course of eating are the slices of raw red onion in the ramen – which gave some bites that sharp spicy tang that lingered in the mouth (versus the raw garlic taste that we’re used to). I have yet to fully decide if this is for me, but I can admit that some people might find that finish very enjoyable.

Also, after some research, it seems that raw onion as a condiment is used in Takeoka-style ramen (from the Chiba region), so in that bite, Onishi has expanded my knowledge of ramen (and for that, my thanks).

Those same onions appear in another bowl by the way -- in the heaviest bowl of the lot, the Miso Soba, featuring Haccho Miso from Tokushima prefecture that permeated throughout the dish and gave the broth that deep brown color. It’s akin to eating a bowl of moderately spicy tantanmen noodles, except we get char sui instead of ground meat, and a backnote of porcini mushrooms.

Speaking of char sui, instead of the usual melt-in-your-mouth pork pieces that we get in most ramen places, the char sui in Tsuta had more bite. Sliced ala ham in a slicer --- perhaps the meat was boiled, then roasted, or maybe just roasted? -- this might not be for everyone, but it was enjoyable to have additional texture in the bowl, also some hints of pepper.

Then there is Tsuta’s signature dish (and the one that Foodee Global Concept’s Eric Dee told us in a conspiratorial whisper that they were very proud of) -- the Shoyu Ramen.

Flavored from a blend of shoyu (with one soy sauce even made to their specifications from a brewery in Wakayama), this bowl uses black truffle oil to accentuate the flavors of the broth/dashi of seafood and meat. I’ve tasted black truffle-flavored ramens before (usually with a tonkotsu broth) and they were weighty sips. But this broth was medium-bodied, and all-in-all harmonious.

Truffle was an accent, not the main flavor of the dish — and everything was balanced, and it was a sip and an experience worth going back again and again for. In fact, I would have gladly eaten another bowl of this ramen during the launch, if not for having to taste the rest. A must-try.

Want more things to chew on as you slurp your ramen?

Side dishes include the rosu char sui, which were thinly sliced chars ui with butter, leek and watercress (like thin bacon pieces); and the aburi niku, which had the char sui in cubes with sweet onion sauce. Not into noodles? Have these side dishes as quick rice bowls with plump and tasty Japanese rice.

When asked why he has such a limited number of dishes, Onishi quipped that when he was creating the menu, he was first concerned if he could execute the dishes on his own as the whole outfit started as a one-man team behind the bar.

These days though, he’s thinking more of adding dishes inspired by the countries where he is expanding to (for example, the duck ramen in Singapore). During the Philippine launch, he shared that he loved the flavors of sisig, so we started thinking 'Sisig Ramen?' But Onishi stressed that he’s still in the process of creating a Tsuta ramen dish for the Philippines, so we have to wait a while.

In the meantime though, Filipino ramen lovers should head on over to Tsuta to try this new-generation ramen.