Ramen Nagi Comes to Ayala Center Cebu, and the Green One Is the Argument
Open since 27 July 2026, the second Nagi in the city. Bowls start at ₱485 before a 10% service charge, the room was full at dinner on 14 August, and the Green King is the bowl that will split your table.
10.3177° N, 123.9045° E
Order the Butao King if you want to know whether Ramen Nagi is good. Order the Green King if you want to know whether you like Ramen Nagi.
That is the whole restaurant in two sentences, and it is why a chain that sells essentially one broth has queues outside 41 doors in this country.
What it is, and what it is not in Tokyo
Ramen Nagi started in 2004 as a small shop run by Satoshi Ikuta in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, the warren of tiny bars behind Kabukicho where a room with six seats counts as a restaurant. It came to the Philippines in 2013 and has been here thirteen years, which makes it older in Manila than most of the people queueing for it were when it landed.
Here is the part almost nobody writing about the Cebu opening will tell you. The Golden Gai original is famous for niboshi ramen, a broth built on dried sardines, sharp and briny and nothing like what is served here. What traveled abroad is Butao, the pork line, a Hakata-style tonkotsu. Both are Nagi. The Cebu branch sells the second one, and if you go to the Tokyo shop expecting this menu you will be surprised.
Everything is made without preservatives, the flour comes from Japan, the noodles are made in house, and the soups and toppings are prepared centrally and distributed so that a bowl in Cebu matches a bowl in Makati. That last part is the actual product. Consistency is what a chain sells.
The four Kings, and what each one is
| Bowl | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Butao King | The original. Hakata-style tonkotsu, pork bone broth, chashu, kikurage, spring onion. The control sample. | ₱485 |
| Red King | Butao with garlic, chili oil and cayenne, plus miso-seasoned minced pork. Heat plus depth. | ₱595 |
| Black King | Butao with black garlic oil and calamari ink, seasoned minced pork and fried garlic. Bitter, smoky, the one that smells strongest across a table. | ₱595 |
| Green King | Butao with basil, olive oil, crispy bacon bits and parmesan. Yes, really. | ₱595 |
| Wonder Kakuni King | The heaviest bowl on the board, built around braised pork belly. | Not confirmed |
| Mazesoba King | Brothless. Noodles, sauce, toppings, mixed at the table. | Not confirmed |
The four Kings were read off the menu at the Ayala Center Cebu counter on 14 August 2026, with a 10% service charge on top of every price. This page first ran them ₱40 to ₱50 lower, from the chain’s national menu, and the counter is the figure that counts. The Wonder Kakuni King and the Mazesoba King were not on the pages photographed, and neither were the sides and extras below. Those are still the national menu figures, so read them as the floor rather than the Cebu price.
Sides worth knowing. Nagi Star Salad ₱320. Gyoza ₱180 for three, ₱280 for five. Karaage ₱265 for three, ₱390 for five. Chashu rice ₱250. Gohan ₱95. Edamame ₱190.
Extras. Kaedama, a second helping of noodles dropped into the broth you still have, is ₱95 and is the single best value on the menu. Extra chashu ₱155, kakuni ₱195, tamago ₱80, nori ₱70, kikurage ₱70.
Two people eating one bowl each with one shared side lands somewhere around ₱1,300 to ₱1,700 before drinks, once the 10% service charge goes on. This is not a cheap noodle shop and it does not pretend to be one.
About the Green King
It arrives looking wrong. A dark green broth the color of pesto, a heap of grated and shaved parmesan floating in the middle, spring onion, kikurage, a slice of chashu, and oil pooling on the surface in a way that does not read as ramen at all.
It works, and the reason it works is that it is not really a fusion trick. Basil, hard cheese, garlic and pork fat is a combination Italy settled several centuries ago. Nagi swapped the pasta for alkaline noodles and the pasta water for tonkotsu, and the tonkotsu is rich enough to carry the cheese instead of being flattened by it. Stir the parmesan through before you start or the first half of the bowl is salty and the second half is not.
It is also the bowl most likely to disappoint somebody who came for ramen and got something else. If you are ordering for a table, get one Green King and one Butao and split the difference. That way somebody at the table is happy either way.
The order sheet, which is the point
Nagi does not hand you a menu and take an order. It hands you a slip and you build the bowl: broth richness, saltiness, garlic, spice level, the cut of pork, and how firm you want the noodles.
Two settings actually matter.
Noodle firmness. The default is fine. Barikata, close to raw, is what regulars order in Hakata and it is genuinely better here, because Nagi’s noodles are thin and they keep cooking in the broth while you eat. Soft noodles in a bowl this rich turn to paste by the halfway point.
Richness. Order it standard the first time. The heaviest setting on a Green King is a lot of fat before you have added cheese to it.
Leave the rest at default on a first visit. The sheet is a fun toy and it is also a good way to ruin a ₱595 bowl by turning six dials at once.
Hours, where it is, and the queue
| Where | Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu Business Park, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City 6000 |
| Sunday to Thursday | 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM |
| Friday and Saturday | 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM |
| Opened | 27 July 2026 |
Hours from the mall directory, checked 14 August 2026.
A detail worth having. Both the mall and the restaurant run an hour later at the weekend, to 10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday against 9:00 PM the rest of the week. There is a highball bar inside, which is what the extra hour is for.
On the queue. The branch is three weeks old and the opening easel is still out front. Expect to wait at peak. Weekday mid-afternoon, between the lunch and dinner services, is the window where you walk in.
Which Cebu branch is which
Ayala Center Cebu is not the first Nagi in Cebu. The first opened earlier in 2026 at the Upper Ground of the Northwing at SM City Cebu. Ayala Center Cebu is the second, and it is the one on the Business Park side of the city, which for most visitors is the more convenient of the two.
It sits inside Ayala Center Cebu, and if you want the other end of the Cebu ramen conversation, Hanamaruken has been here far longer and sells a very different bowl.
Wear the route.
Tokyo to Cebu is a five hour flight and it took this bowl of ramen thirteen years. The Airport Series prints the runway diagrams of the two ends of that route.
Airport Series HND
Tokyo Haneda
₱1,299
Airport Series CEB
Mactan-Cebu
₱1,299
Frequently asked questions
How much is Ramen Nagi in Cebu?
The Butao King is ₱485 and the Red, Black and Green Kings are ₱595 each, read off the menu at the Ayala Center Cebu counter on 14 August 2026. A 10% service charge goes on top. The Wonder Kakuni King and the Mazesoba King were not on the pages photographed.
What is Green King at Ramen Nagi?
The Butao tonkotsu base with basil, parmesan and olive oil. It looks like pesto and it tastes closer to an Italian dish than to a standard bowl of ramen.
What time does Ramen Nagi at Ayala Center Cebu open?
10:00 AM daily. It closes at 9:00 PM Sunday to Thursday and 10:00 PM on Friday and Saturday.
When did Ramen Nagi open in Cebu?
The SM City Cebu branch opened first, in 2026, at the Upper Ground of the Northwing. The Ayala Center Cebu branch followed on 27 July 2026.
Which King should a first-timer order?
Butao. It is the original, it is the cheapest, and every other bowl on the board is a variation on it.
What is kaedama?
A second serving of noodles added to the broth you have left, and the best value on the menu. The chain’s national menu has it at ₱95. The Cebu counter price has not been photographed yet.
Photographed at Ayala Center Cebu on 14 August, 16 September and 2 October 2026. Bowls: Green King with a Nagi Star Salad in August, Black King in September, Wonder Kakuni King in October. Bowl prices read off the counter menu and hours checked on 14 August 2026. Bowl prices corrected on 4 October 2026.
Working through the rest of it? Where to eat ramen in Cebu compares this bowl against the others worth the drive.
