{"id":1286,"date":"2015-12-13T05:34:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T05:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2015-12-13T05:36:44","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T05:36:44","slug":"enjoying-ramen-in-a-rundown-place-in-the-city-of-manila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/enjoying-ramen-in-a-rundown-place-in-the-city-of-manila\/","title":{"rendered":"Enjoying ramen in a rundown place in the City of Manila"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vest1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Malate in the City of Manila continues to evolve really, really fast. Yes, it was always a historical place \u2013 you only need to see the ancestral houses that still dot the area to know that this place was once home of Metro Manila\u2019s old rich. But I\u2019d say that particularly in recent times, the area\u2019s evolution has quickened \u2013 there was a time when it was part of the red light district of the city, \u201chome\u201d of the so-called \u201ckalapating mababa ang lipad<\/em>\u201d (literally: \u201cdoves that fly low\u201d, though really just referring to prostituted women); and then it became the bohemian must-visit place (with writers, artists and the likes frequenting the place); and then becoming the gay area; and then becoming a Koreatown; and then \u2013 nowadays \u2013 into a largely hetero ogle-town (complete with the clubs with showgirls who striptease even in the remaining gay bar in the area, sports bars, et cetera<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Malate of the past is dead; but there\u2019s a \u201cnew\u201d Malate that mixes not necessarily the bests of its past, though this version is not at all uninteresting.<\/p>\n

It is in this \u201cnew\u201d Malate where Vest \u2013 a ramen house along Adriatico Street \u2013 can be found, mixing some of the good (e.g. carefree attitude, good food) and some of the bad (e.g. sex industry, beggars of the city) that people who frequented Malate in the past know very well.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S THERE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look-wise, Vest is actually just a rundown karinderya<\/em>-like (eatery-like) inuman<\/em> (drinking joint). As such, it\u2019s a non-airconditioned place beside the street, with numerous plastic chairs and tables (i.e. monoblocs). Obviously, there\u2019s nothing \u201cfancy\u201d about this place.<\/p>\n

To up the ante of the place being rundown, check the toilets that almost look like belated additions to the place \u2013 e.g. the urinals in the male toilet, for example, look like they were just pasted on existing cement walls, so that \u201cyuck\u201d easily comes to mind when you see it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an area worth highlighting \u2013 i.e. the ramen stall, where the \u201cmagic\u201d is made. This is akin to the food stalls in the streets of Bangkok or Vietnam or Japan or\u2026 you get the drift. The stall has everything needed to make the good offerings \u2013 e.g. noodles, broth, et cetera<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And so \u2013 in a way \u2013 Vest (somewhat) elevates street eating\u2026<\/p>\n

WHY GO THERE<\/strong> Obviously \u2013 as stressed \u2013 you don\u2019t come here because of the fancy atmosphere. In fact, if there\u2019s one reason to be here at all, it\u2019s the ramen. There aren\u2019t that many choices \u2013 i.e. Shoyu (P60), Miso (P80), Shio (P70) and Tan-tanmen (P90). There are thingies you can add \u2013 e.g. egg (P10), soup (P10) and spice (P10). But the offerings here are yummy. Even better when eaten after a drunken night-out.<\/p>\n

That they\u2019re cheap is definitely a plus (e.g. I\u2019ve had supposedly authentic Korean ramen in restaurants near De La Salle University along Taft, and though I paid P200 per bowl, what was served me was just instant noodles topped with more spices!).<\/p>\n

WHY AVOID<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alas, there are many minuses why you shouldn\u2019t drop by this place. The rundown state of the place has already been stated.<\/p>\n

The beggars, too, who hop from one table to another, asking for whatever they can for them to survive.<\/p>\n

And then there are the sex workers who stay at the place to: 1) drink cheaply with thrifty clients, or 2) look for clients while there (the place is popular among Western backpackers, and non-Filipino students). In between sipping hot broth and chowing down pork siomai (P25 for five pieces), you are bound to hear mainly female sex workers discuss would-be clients and the expected sexual acts that go with whatever price that will be asked. So if you\u2019re not keen being with their likes, you\u2019ve been warned\u2026<\/p>\n

IN THE END<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re willing to sacrifice overall ambiance for cheap, better-than-okay food, check this place out.<\/p>\n

If you believe ambiance is important to enjoy food, then this one isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n

Try having your ramen packed for take-out; that way, you\u2019d still be able to savor the offering\/s without having to stay there\u2026<\/p>\n

Vest is located along Adriatico Street in Malate, City of Manila.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Vest2\"
<\/a>\"Vest3\"
<\/a>\"Vest4\"
<\/a>\"Vest5\"
<\/a>\"Vest6\"
<\/a>\"Vest8\"
<\/a>\"Vest9\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Along Adriatico Street in the City of Manila is a rundown \u2018iuman\u2019 (drinking joint) that offers better-than-okay ramen. And so if you\u2019re willing to sacrifice overall ambiance for cheap food, check this place out. If you believe ambiance is important to enjoy food, then this one isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[776,775,772,777,771],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-dining-out","tag-dining","tag-dining-manila","tag-foodie","tag-ramen-house","tag-vest-ramen-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1290,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}