Hanamaruken

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

HAPPY to have found a blazer of the color and size I wanted after a three-hour bout of fitting here and there, I thought of rewarding myself with a good meal. For weeks now, I wanted to go back to a decent ramen house, but decided to walk some more to balance whatever calories will meet me there. After some sweating, I was ready for the carbohydrates, and whatever else they will put in the bowl. Like most of my friends who have been there but cannot remember the name of the restaurant, I was guided by my feet, and for now I can memorize the name of the restaurant, Hanamaruken.

I decided to remember it so I told myself, it sounds like a contraction of the Ilocano word for “Haan a mabirukan” (cannot be found) pronounced the Japanese way. Succeeding to remember with this association, I shouted, “Bansai!” as the large bowl landed in front of me, so huge a bowl, that I can actually drown in it. The “shreds of meat” as described by the male waiter looked more like a slab of meat, so I wondered how big the “slab of meat” in Osaka’s famous Happiness Ramen he referred to looked like.

Earlier, the lady waiter advised that I should order the ramen with the rib part and not the belly if I didn’t want fat. So I did, but the broth is still a little fatty for me so I called the waiter, a male waiter, who told me,

“Ma’am, all our ramen is like that, with glorious fat, the way the Japanese eat it. Only Filipinos are picky about fat.”

“Really? All Japanese like fat in ramen?”

“Yes, ma’am! That’s how the Japanese are!”

He was very confident about his answer, so I told him, “You should therefore educate me about this ramen, when you are not too busy, and also to familiarize me with Japanese culture.”

“Ay, okay lang po, Ma’am. Sa oras na ito, kayo lang ang customer namin, pwedeng-pwede!” (It’s okay, Ma’am. At this hour, you are our only customer, it is very okay!)

“Have you been to Japan?”

“No ma’am… I just concluded. That’s how it makes sense to me. In any case, it’s obvious, di ba? Ma’am naman, kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan? ” he retorted with a teasing pout.

“Ahhh, okay, you have the right to conclude and make sense of these things. Just give me a cup of hot water to dilute the soup, it’s a little fatty and salty for me.”

He pirouetted and in a minute he gave me a cup of hot water and hot tea.

“Ma’am, I advise you not to dilute your soup to retain the signature taste. If you are worried about the fat, just gulp this hot tea. That’s the role of teas in a ramen house.”

“Okay, I’ll drink the tea and dilute the soup, thank you so much, and tell the lady waiter, I like her suggestions too, especially the add-on, the tamago, it tastes good in the soup.”

The serving was just really too much, and I only ate the ramen, a little soup, and a little of the meat. So I called him again.

“Can you just wrap this, I’ll take it home.”

“May suggestion ako, Ma’am. Since you ate all the noodles, and left a large portion of the meat and the soup, why don’t you buy extra noodles, so you can heat your soup at home, and enjoy your noodles?”

“Okay, just make it fast.”

I have no doubt, this waiter has either a Chinese or an Israeli blood, he knows how to sell. Or he is a relative of Joe de Venecia. At this point, he can sell me the Pacific Ocean.

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments