You might soon find this popular ramen in your neighborhood

The Weekend Food Truck of Ramen Yushoken and Mendokoro Ramenba. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

It seems that every time we have a semblance of normalcy and hopes are raised that things will go back to the way they were prepandemic, there is again a surge of cases to burst that little bubble of happiness.

But we are resilient, so we adjust. We go with the flow. And the flow now strongly recommends open air spaces to lessen the risk of virus contagion.

So the geniuses in the restaurant industry have started adjusting as well, opening al fresco dining now that we are under general community quarantine and limited dining is allowed.

The guys behind Mendokoro and Yushoken, through a company named Nippon Hasha, have gotten even more creative. They did a pop-up at Capitol Commons on Sept. 25, using a food truck, serving their bestsellers such as shoyu ramen, super chashu and gyoza until 10 p.m.

Take home ramen kits via nipponhasha.com.

Brilliant move

The not-so-great news is that this was a one-day event. The great news is that this truck will be doing a tour of Metro Manila and popping up in nearby cities and even provinces. To find out where

the ramen truck will be next, just follow the social media pages of Ramen Yushoken and Mendoko Ramenba.

I think it’s a brilliant move. Their chefs, Rowell Acol, Janine Siaron, Joonee Lucena and Jeffrey Mulacruz, have been working hard to find a way to reach out to customers in these dreary times. So they figured that since the customers can’t come to them, why not bring the restaurant to the customers instead.

When the food truck arrives at its chosen area, seats are arranged outside for those who want to “dine in.”

Since the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases still requires it, masks and face shields are still required when buying and dining will only be for those aged 18 to 64 years old.

If you can’t wait for the food truck, Mendokoro and Yushoken are open at Molito in Alabang; and Mendokoro is open at V Corporate Centre Building in Makati and at the Icon Building in Bonifacio Global City. Of course this is subject to government regulations so they are closed in times of enhanced community quarantine.

Takeout kits

For those who really don’t go out of their homes, they offer takeout kits. These are prepared daily so you can count on the freshness of ramen that you would usually enjoy at a ramen house or izakaya. You can pick these up at their restaurants, at the food truck, or for delivery via nipponhasha.com. It’s still not like enjoying it over the counter but it’s the next best thing.

Real ramen—the kind you must enjoy over the counter at a ramen house—is something many of us have really missed since the first lockdown of March 2020. So this is something truly exciting.

Ramen Yushoken means House of the Ramen Champions. And for bringing ramen closer to us, they truly are. Arigato gozaimasu!