Wabi-Sabi Noodle House & Vegetarian Grocery

I’ve been hearing a lot about “The Collective” but had no idea what it was until last night.  It’s a new place in Makati City that has a lot of unique establishments all in one area all clustered together which is definitely why it’s called “The Collective”.  One of these such collectives is Wabi-Sabi Noodle House & Vegetarian Grocery.  The restaurant is a pretty cool place I must say.  It has a homey-feeling to it.  It can sit about 30 pax and serve only a variety of dishes.

The menu items available for order are so limited that I can actually list them down for you right here:

• Lemongrass Iced Tea (Php 40)
• Steamed Buns (Php 25)
• Pot Smokers (Php 45)
• Veggie Cracklings (Php 40)
• Bahn Mi (Php 150)
• Shoyu Ramen (Php 95)
• Viet Pho (Php 95)

You get to order your chosen dishes at the counter & pay right away.  They will then serve your orders at your table.  I’m not sure if the one who took our orders was actually the owner but I think he was.

I almost wanted order each & every item on the menu hahahaha! Good thing I didn’t but anyhow, the ff. were the ones ordered in the table I sat in:

• Shoyu Ramen (Php 95)

Seems like a japanese version of the ramen.  This however is a vegetarian soup.  Very tasty dish & the serving is just right.  These dishes are always perfect if the seasoning isn’t too much and oftentimes you can tell if the broth has been slowly cooked.  I think with this dish, they must have simmered the broth really long, which is good, because you can really taste the full flavors really combined perfectly.  The greens were most probably added just before serving.  It’s really interesting because the ingredients seemed as if there was meat in it even though it’s a vegetarian dish.  Great job on the execution of this dish.  I guess this is why they only have a few menu items.  The lack in quantity is made up by the excellent quality of the dishes.

• Viet Pho (Php 95)

I didn’t order this but it looked like a Thailand version of the ramen.  I asked the one who ordered this & he said that it was good.  The Shoyu Ramen I ordered was excellent too!  I might need to go back to Wabi-Sabi again to sample this dish & decide for myself which one is better 🙂

• Pot Smokers (Php 45)

Wonder what pot smokers are?  It’s actually just plain gyoza or more commonly called dumplings!  Looked so yummy!  almost everyone ordered this, I didn’t but I will when I get back.  The great thing about this dish is the contrast in texture that is added by pan searing the dumplings, as well as the great smoky flavor that is added.  Just too bad I wasn’t able to try it out, the sauce on it seemed delicious too, I wonder if it had a smoky sweet barbecue flavor to it, because that would definitely be a great way to top off this dish.

• Lemongrass Iced Tea (Php 40)

A healthy drink & a delicious one too!  I can drink like liters of Lemongrass tea, yumyum!!

If you have noticed, there were 2 ramens served in Wabi-Sabi.  And they actually make a pretty big deal about just which one is better, because obviously everyone will have a different taste and favorite.  It’s cute that they actually put the preferences on the actual wall and named it “NOODLE WARS”.  Hahahaha!  Cute!  If I’m able to try out both, then I’ll definitely wanna be included in the war, hahaha!

And oh, before I forget, the place also sells some grocery items.  The place is great for people who wants to eat healthy.  It’s a vegetarian restaurant after all!

——————–
Wabi-Sabi Noodle House & Vegetarian Grocery
The Collective, 7274 Malugay St., Brgy. San Antonio, Makati City, Philippines
(0918) 450-1714