Cafe

Coffee

♥ Mocha (190 php)

Cold Drink (with Vanilla Ice Cream)


All Day Menu

Breakfast

♥ Classic French Toast (370 php)

Southbank's french toast isn't just savy with all the colorful dusts and edible flowers, it is also so delicious that all my companions preferred this over pancakes.  It was an interesting discovery for us that whipped ricotta adds a complementing creamy texture and wholesome flavor to the Classic French Toast.

♥ Croquettes (350 php)

We've always been a fan of croquettes.  We loved Southbank's version comes with  potato, cheese, sous-vide egg and roasted capsicum.

Southbank Pancakes (390 php)

The Southbank Pancakes comes with mixed berries jelly.   You'll love this if you enjoy berries with maple syrup.

Mains

♥ Ricotta Salad (390 php)

The Ricotta Salad is rich and fresh.  Thus, it delivers a perfect combination of  pleasure and healthy eating.

♥ Southbank Burger (580 php)

♥ Squid Ink Pasta (450 php)

The Squid Ink Pasta was another amazing dish to try.  There's a lot of things going on with this pasta dish like some tinge of spiciness, zesty cheese and tangy tomato sauce and they all worked wonderfully well with the squid ink capellini. 

♥ Tiger Prawn Risotto (580 php)

The Tiger Prawn Risotto is a medley of all our favorites: prawn thermidore, mushroom and sun-dried tomatoes so it was instant love upon first taste.  When it comes to risotto, another essential factor is the texture.  As you can see, it is creamy and the rice isn't too sticky, heavy or mushy so it was pleasurable to eat.

♥ Salmon Aburi Bowl (620 php)

Hickory BBQ Pork Belly Bowl (420 php)

The Hickory BBQ Pork Belly Bowl is so tender and deliciously smoky and sweet.  This is a great comforting meal. 

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict

Like Ramen Yushoken, my uncle suggested that we go South to try Chairman Wangs Prime Beef Noodle House.

So we dedicated a day to go from Manila to Molito Lifestyle Complex in Alabang.  Chairman Wangs was not yet open when we dined at Ramen Yushoken and Le Petite Cheri.  Now, the whole complex is filled with dining establishments. 

It has an ancient Chinese civilization interior.  It has lanterns dangling for lights.  And, the walls are the most interesting part for me.  The tall wooden chairs are cool too.

There's a window by the entrance showing that they simultaneously make hand-pulled noodles. 

Food

Dry Noodles

Chairman's Braised Beef Dry Noodles (250 php)

As soon as we opened the menu, we knew that Chairman Wangs is related to Kanzhu Hand-Pulled Noodles.  We ordered same items we've tried before and other new items out of curiosity.  When the the Chairman's Braised Beef Dry Noodles was served, we already knew what to expect.  The price difference was for the superior food quality and larger serving size.  The texture of th noodles is so good.  It was firm and chewy - just the way I love it.

Noodle Soup

♥ Chairman's Prime Beef Noodle Soup (280 php)

The Chairman's Prime Beef Noodle Soup is one of the best Chinese noodle soup I've ever encountered. 

♥ Chairman's Prime Beef Noodle Soup (280 php)

Best quality in terms of broth, noodles and beef.  What's there not to like.

♥ Chairman's Braised Beef Noodle Soup (250 php)

The Chairman's Braised Beef Noodle Soup is actually not far below the Chairman's Prime Beef Noodle Soup.  But, the rich milky broth is far more savory and flavorful than the same kind I've tried at Kanzhu.

♥ Braised Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup (250 php)

The Braised Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup is lighter in terms of broth.  It brings out the taste of soft tendon so we enjoyed this. 


 

♥ Lamb Dumpling Noodle Soup (240 php)

I ordered the Lamb Dumpling Noodle Soup because I didn't try this at Kanzhu.  The family has tried Kanzhus version and says this is way better.  The texture of the dumplings, better duck meat filing and the broth sets the differene.

Pork Chive and Dumpling Noodle Soup (220 php)

The Pork Chive and Dumpling Noodle Soup is pretty good.  But, I prefer the Lamb Dumpling Noodle Soup.

Dessert

♥ Chilled Coconut Milk Soup with Sago and Fresh Fruits 5-6 Pax (350 php)

The family was so excited for dessert.  We wanted to order so many but we ended up with the Chilled Coconut Milk Soup with Sago and Fresh Fruits as the rest were not available.

♥ Chilled Coconut Milk Soup with Sago and Fresh Fruits 5-6 Pax (350 php)

We all loved the presentation.  Taste-wise we were all pleasantly surprised at how refreshingly delicious this could be.  This is so simple yet really good and quite healthy too.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Chairman Wangs Prime Beef Noodle House is the only Chinese noodle soup house worth going south for. But, for premium quality it is a bit pricey. 

After our Ramen dinner at Yushoken, the family went to Le Petite Cheri just a few stores away and also located in Molito Alabang to buy some pastries for the next day's breakfast.

It has a beautiful Parisian inspired ambiance.   They had a dining area with well-cushioned wooden seats that matched its wooden tables. 

They had a chiller of luscious cakes and pastries.   This enticed us to have an after-dinner coffee and cake session.  After all, we did travel all the way to Alabang just to eat so we might us way go all out.


It has a bakery area where we thought we could buy some bread.  But unfortunately, they were sold out of bread and these are just for display.


More cakes are displayed in the bakery area but not as much as in the dining area.

Since it was Christmas, they have a tall Christmas Tree by their staircase too. 

The second floor has a library where you can read their wide collection of books.

And, there is an even more private room with more books and a nice view of the Molito's parking area. 

While waiting for our orders, I got some book too.

Even their place mat and utensil holder is cute.

Desserts

Mousse au Chocolat (115 php)

The Mousse au Chocolat is an irresistible treat with layers of dark and white chocolate mousses, all set on a chocolate cookie crust and topped with velvety chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings.

♥ Mousse au Chocolat (115 php)

This Mousse au Chocolat is so heavenly!  Chocoholics like me will definitely fall in love with it.  This is probably one of the best chocolate mousse I've ever had.

Tarte Aux Pommes (115 php)

The Tarte Aux Pommes is a classic french take on apple pie fresh apple slices set on a bed of Frangpane (sweet almond pastry cream).  If you like apple pie, then you'll like this because it's very similar.  You can request an ala mode version with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  I forgot to note if we were charged extra for that. 

Drinks

♥ Toffee Coffee (120 php)

I ordered the Toffee Coffee and requested it to be lightly sweetened.  It was still sweet but the strong nutty coffee was able to balance with it well. 

Coffee Selection

Cafe Au Lait (85 php)

The Cafe Au Lait impressed my coffee affecionado brother as well.  It comes with a free cookie. 

Cappucino Decaf (105 php)

My little sister found their Cappucino Decaf too light for her preference. 

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Le Petite Cheri is a nice place to take your time and relax over a good meal.  They also serve wine.  I love their concept in terms of food and ambiance.  The Mousse au Chocolat is definitely worth coming back for.  Too bad we didn't get to try their main entrees.  My aunt advised us that they are superb as well.  The service is also excellent. 

One important lesson my mom has always impart on us is the respect to the elders.  There is always ranking when it comes to age.  So when her eldest brother or my Twa Koo told us to try the Ramen Yushoken, mom said we will.  I guess Twa Koo really liked Ramen Yushoken because after he had a meal there with his golf buddies, he brought home their menu place mat for us to see.  

According to the place mat, Ramen Yushoken's ramen is derived from "Ramen God" Kazuo Yamagishi, who in his 80's, still manages to his Taishoken ramen shop in Tokyo.  He is also the inventor of the tsukemen or dipping ramen.  His successor known as the "son of ramen god", Koji Tashiro, came to train Ramen Yushoken's staff in December 2012.  Ramen champion Hideo Aoyama, known to be have a "golden tongue" with the ability to adapt to any of the 22 known styles in Japan regularly visit Yushoken. 

During the non-working holiday for Barangay election, we took the chance to drive all the way from Manila to Molito Alabang just to try it.  We arrived at around 6 pm.  We were quite happy because we got to park just in front of it.  And, we saw an empty table through the glass window. 

As we entered, I saw them making the gyoza.  So my mind automatically listed that as a must order. 

The staffs explained that we couldn't fit on the table so two of us had to seat on the ramen bar.  We asked why couldn't we just add an extra chair and they reasoned that the other table might not have a wide enough easement to go out.  But, after insisting they allowed it.  We were so excited to dine that we didn't realize who was wearing yellow on the next table.  Oops! That explained everything, I guess.  >.< 

Food
A quote from a movie called "Ramen Girl": "A bowl of ramen is a self-contained universe with life from the sea, the mountains, and the earth. All existing in perfect harmony. Harmony is essential. What holds it all together is the broth. The broth gives life to the ramen."

Tonkotsu Ramen

♥ Shio (320 php)

Mom ordered the Shio which is salt-based to appreciate the basic broth.  Since we went all the way, we ordered all kinds of their Tonkotsu Ramen to try and compare.  Every one agreed that this was the least favorite among the selections.  The texture of the noodles is the best I've tried so far. 

♥ Shoyu (350 php)

The Shoyu which is soy-based won all our vote.  We love the flavorful broth.  It's so good we ordered another one of this.

Tantan-men (380 php)

I ordered the Tantan-men.  The spiciness is just enough to tickle my taste buds.  But, my siblings apparently felt it was too spicy after one spoonful.  The blend of spiciness, nuttiness and meaty flavor makes this a great tantan-men but I still prefer Ukkokei's. 

♥ Miso (380 php)

This is the best Miso I have ever had.  What makes this so special is that they blend 7 different kinds of miso to concoct this masterpiece.  It's not the ordinary sweet miso. 

Tsukemen

♥ Tonkotsu (390 php)

I have to be honest here. None of us are fond of Tsukemen.   But since we wanted to try it out, we ordered just one.  After we found out that the half Aji Tamago (egg) as part of the Tokusei is not available, we settled for the Tonkotsu.  It offers a bolder yet smoother taste than the ramen which we all loved. 


I just had to note that the convenience that their spoon is offering is cool. =D 

Side Dishes/Extras

♥ Gyoza (150 php)

I was totally blow away with a bite of their Gyoza.  The shells are lightly moist and not soggy at all.  And, yet look at how thin and beautifully molded they are.

♥ Gyoza (150 php)

One side is evenly fried to be crisp and dry. 

♥ Gyoza (150 php)

Each Gyoza was plump and juicy!  So far this is the best among the rest I've tried. 

♥ Karaage (210 php)

Crunchy skin plus succulent chicken meat equals a superb Karaage! 

♥ Chahan (220 php)

I rarely rave over Chahan or mixed fried rice.  But, their Chahan deserves it.  So although the ramen gets the highlight, reserve some space for this.

Tsinoy Foodies Other Ramen House/Shop Reviews
Akira Restaurant 
Curry Bee Japanese Curry Shop
Hanamaruken Ramen 花丸轩  
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen
Kitchitora 1 | Kitchitora 2
Kokoro Ramenya
Menya Genki Tonkotsu Ramen
Miso-Ten
Mitsuyado Sei-Men
Moshi Koshi 1 | Moshi Koshi 2
Rai-Rai Ken Ramen House
Ramen Bar
Ramen Cool
Ramen Ichiban-Kan
Ramen Nagi
Ramen Sora
Ramen X (Closed)
Ukkokei Ramen Ron
Wrong Ramen

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Ramen Yushoken offers the best ramen in the country yet!  Its ramen is worth going all the way to Alabang and maybe even further because the other dishes are also exemplary.  I'm so glad the hype and tales about it was true. =D  Better go early because by the time we were finished, there was a long waiting line.