Rai Rai Ken Ramen House and Sushi Bar has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a small and modest tea house in Makati City. It now boasts of 30 outlets all over the Philippines, and still growing. It takes pride in its tradition of serving authentic Japanese food, especially ramen or Japanese noodles, which is really its specialty.

What has become of Rai Rai Ken is the result of the hard work and dedication of the company’s president and CEO Benjamin Garcia, who started as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Makati called Ramen Tei in 1985. Because of his diligence, Garcia eventually became the head cook and was even sent to Japan to train how to prepare authentic Japanese food. When he came back, he was tasked to train other Japanese cooks. It was quite ironic because it took a Filipino to teach the Japanese how to prepare authentic Japanese dishes. Benjie cherished all these because it would later pave the way for a bright future.

It was in 1992 when Garcia decided to put up his own restaurant at Bautista Street in Makati City. He called it Master Chow. It was not even a regular restaurant but more of a karinderya. He would serve the favorite Filipino breakfast tapsilog to office workers from the area. Later on, he started to offer ramen or Japanese noodles. It became Garcia’s big break as people would flock to his humble eatery to have a taste of the delectable ramen dishes. Even to this day, his old customers would show up in Rai Rai Ken outlets just to savor the taste of an authentic Japanese ramen dish. Not so many people know that Master Chow also became the supplier of ramen and other Japanese goods to some big Japanese restaurants around the metro.

Rai Rai Ken eventually came into being in 1993. The word “rai rai” comes from an old Chinese word which means “welcome” while “ken” means “restaurant.” It carries that tradition of preparing and serving authentic and appetizing Japanese cuisine to stimulate the old experience of noodle shops in China and Japan. Garca’s children, Joey and Joanne, are now at the helm of managing the growing restaurant chain. With their involvement in the business, Rai Rai Ken is evolving into an upbeat and dynamic but still traditional restaurant where excellent food and good service is still the most important thing.

Aside from its claim of real Japanese food, Rai Rai Ken takes pride in its ambiance and warm customer service. They make sure that they only use 100-percent Japanese materials even if they adapt some of their ramen dishes to the Filipino palate. They also make sure that their sushi bar only offers the freshest fish, like tuna and salmon, in the market.

Although they cater mostly to the A, B and C+ markets, Rai Rai Ken sees to it that it maintains friendly and affordable prices that would also cater to a wider clientele. For instance, it came up with a Saver Bento for only P150—a complete meal of rice, teriyaki, tempura and soup.

But Rai Rai Ken is not resting on its laurels. Joey Garcia, the COO, takes an aggressive marketing strategy for their family restaurant this year. He wants to professionalize further the operations and service and aims at making Rai Rai Ken the most preferred Japanese restaurant. He aims to open at least 15 branches all over the country. Ultimately, he dreams of putting up a Rai Rai Ken outlet in Japan for sentimental reasons. For him, it’s like going back to where it really started.

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Entrepreneur: The dish on Rai Rai Ken

Rai Rai Ken Ramen House and Sushi Bar has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a small and modest tea house in Makati City. It now boasts of 30 outlets all over the Philippines, and still growing. It takes pride in its tradition of serving authentic Japanese food, especially ramen or Japanese noodles, which is really its specialty.

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