(*The blog is based on the personal opinion and experience of one of the members participating in the training trip in Japan)

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Japanese cuisine was so popular in Vietnam. Foods that came to mind when I thought of Japanese foods could be Ramen, Sushi, Takoyaki... Ramen was known as a typical Japanese dish and had been appearing in many Japanese movies, anime. So I decided to go for Ramen as soon as I got the chance to participate in the training trip to Tokyo, Japan.

At 2nd night in Japan, after finishing the training session and party with the ISB Corporation, even though I was a bit full from the party, I immediately went to a Ramen restaurant called "Mendokoro Hanada" which was near the station Ikebukuro.

I arrived at the restaurant about 09:00 PM. There were five people in the queue at that time. The staff supported me to buy a meal ticket from the vending machine at the entrance before queuing. On the machine, there was full information about types of Ramen, toppings, drinks and its prices. After I inserted money and pressed button, a meal ticket was printed. As my observation, the machine just accepted: 1000 yen notes, 2000 yen notes, 10 yen coins, 50 yen coins, 100 yen coins and 500 yen coins. After getting a meal ticket, I returned to my original place in the line. After that, the other staff checked my ticket and asked me whether I wanted to add more vegetables and extra garlic to my order. I didn’t want to add anything more, so I responded: “普通のラーメンでお願いします”.

After waiting about 15 minutes, I had a seat. When I got into the restaurant, I felt very familiar like what I saw in the Japanese movies. The space was quite small, but very close. The counter was very neat and tidy. Maybe because of the limited space, it was only counter seats. But I was able to watch the chefs cook the food which was ordered in front of me.

Just wait about 5 minutes more, my bowl of ramen - Miso ramen was served. It was a large bowl filled with ramen, pork, veggies, eggs. I really wanted to try Japanese Medium-boiled egg, so I ordered the ramen with eggs. The smell of warm ramen spread, it was so good and very suited to the nighttime cold in Tokyo. Furthermore, Water, Garlic and chili powder,... were available on the counter. Because I wanted to try the original flavor of the dish, I added nothing in my bowl of ramen. The soup was thick and quite salty, but it tasted so good. The noodles were thick and chewy. The chunks of pork were very big and thick, but soft. Medium-boiled egg was very greasy. Stir -fried vegetables were also very delicious. When I finished that bowl of ramen, I thought I couldn't eat anything else. I stood up, left the restaurant and finished the 2nd night in Japan.

I had a wonderful ramen experience at Mendokoro Hanada. It's a great memory for me. The ramen was delicious, and the staffs were also very friendly. I hoped I would have the opportunity to return to Japan and eat ramen again with someone.