Nadai Fujisoba: No Ramen Here, Just Soba and Udon

Last month, I took my Nanay out to see a movie. We still had an hour to waste before the screening, so we decided to have dinner first. We headed down to the ground floor of SM North EDSA The Block because I remembered a number of restaurants are scheduled to open in February. When we got there, we saw two new Japanese restaurants standing adjacent to each other. It was a tough choice to make, but we ended up choosing Nadai Fujisoba since my Nanay wanted to eat some ramen (or so we thought).

When we were handed the menu, I asked the server what their bestselling flavor of ramen is. She was quick to inform us that they donâ€™t serve ramen and that they only use udon and soba for their noodles. At that point, I still had no idea what she was talking about. It turns out, udon is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, while soba is thin and made using buckwheat. Well, I was extremely glad I learned something new about Japanese cuisine that day.

Nadai Fujisoba is a popular restaurant chain in Japan, which was established in 1966. The Philippines is only the second country they have entered after Taiwan. Now they have five branches in Metro Manila: Bonifacio High Street, Lucky Chinatown Mall, SM Aura Premier, SM Mall of Asia, and SM North EDSA The Block.

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Sushi Master: Authentic Japanese Food in Malabon City

Whenever Mhel and I are badly craving for some quality Japanese food, Malabon City has never been the first place that comes to our minds. But all that has changed when we’ve finally discovered the newly opened Sushi Master right at our hometown.

Sushi Master, which opened June of 2015, stands along what I call the “foodie avenue” of Malabon City, where big-name food businesses like Nanay’s Pancit Malabon and Dolor’s Kakanin are also strategically located. The restaurant is jointly owned by the foodie couple Nolenz Evanglista and Emily Panganiban. Nolenz has worked in Japan for a few years, so he has first-hand knowledge of the flair and flavor of authentic Japanese cuisine.

They have been inviting us to visit their restaurant even before they have first opened their doors. One long weekend in August, we finally gave in to their request, and now we’ll tell you how our dining experience went.

For our drinks, we ordered a glass each of their Iced Tea, Pink Lemonade, and Mango Shake. Their Pink LemonadeÂ (Php 50) has the right balance of sour and sweet that I particularly loved, while the Iced Tea (Php 30) was not too sweet or bland. It was a cold day but it didn’t stop our Nanay from enjoying their perfectly refreshing Mango Shake (Php 75).

I’ve heard only good things about Sushi Master’s GyozaÂ (Php 95) when my friends visited a few weeks earlier, so I was really curious to get a taste of it. The wrapper was a little thicker than most gyozas from other Japanese restaurants, but the filling was one of the most flavorful we’ve had.

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Sambo Kojin in SM Megamall: Authentic Japanese and Korean Food Heaven

A few weeks ago, we were invited by Sambo Kojin to try their authentic Japanese and Korean dishes at their newest (also the biggest) branch in SM Megamall. Unfortunately, Mhel was unavailable that day because of work, so I asked my longtime foodie friend, Innah, who just came back from Dubai, to join me instead.

Sambo Kojin at SM Megamall

The faÃ§ade of Sambo Kojinâ€™s branch in SM Megamall leaves little clue how spacious and well-lighted it is inside. Once you come in, youâ€™ll be pleasantly surprised at how many tables and seats there are. I honestly got lost a few times, trying to get back to our table. Thatâ€™s how big the place is!

All tables are also equipped with smokeless yakiniku grills. How are they smokeless? These grills have special exhausts located at the sides of the grills, which suck the smoke out before its smell sticks to your clothes.

Itâ€™s also important to note that Sambo Kojin is open the whole day from Friday to Sunday and during Holidays. This means there will be NO breaks in between their lunch and dinner services, making it the perfect venue to celebrate a birthday, a graduation, or an anniversary (or any occasion, really) with your friends and family.

Here you can see the chefs busy at work to make sure all the food on display are replenished in real time.

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Kimukatsu: Japan’s Favorite 25-Layered Tonkatsu

Just when we thought the katsu craze is over, Japan’s favorite 25-layered mille-feuille style tonkatsu finally arrives in Manila, giving Yabu: House of Katsu a run for their money! Kimukatsu opens their 5th international branch in the Philippines after their great success in Hawaii, California (2 branches), and South Korea.

Imagine our delight when we received an invite from Kimukatsu to try their famous tonkatsu. With our extreme love for Japanese food, how could we say no? 😀 We headed over to their Shangri-La branch for lunch and met with Kenji Komuro, Kimukatsu Philippines Director of Public Relations, who gave us a quick tour and a rundown of their menu.

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OZEN Japanese Food Haven in Malabon Serves the Best Takoyaki We’ve Ever Had!

Thereâ€™s this small Japanese hole-in-the-wall food stop near our house that we usually see jam-packed with customers at night. We really had no plans at all of trying the place, since weâ€™ve had authentic Japanese fare from topnotch restaurants and hotels in Manila (Yabang naman! 😀 ) and weâ€™re quite sure that the place will be nothing less than a disappointment. But it was until we met a fellow foodie who raved about how awesome their Takoyaki was that we finally decided to pay OZEN Japanese Food in Malabon a visit.

Our first try was a total disaster, service-wise. They had 3 groups of families that were dining in, so we had to wait over an hour to finally get our food. We ordered three sets of Takoyaki â€” two to-go and one for dining in because we wanted to take a quality photo of their Takoyaki for the blog. I didnâ€™t get my hopes up, since my first encounter with a mall-bought Takoyaki was totally unremarkable.

I picked up a piece and took a small bite. My eyes widened in amazement, and from then I knew that itâ€™s the best Takoyaki Iâ€™ve ever had my whole life! Well, I exaggerated a bit there. 😀 It took us a couple of balls to finally establish how delicious their Takoyaki was. It was so good that we came back the next day â€“ in the afternoon this time – so we didnâ€™t have to battle a crowd of patrons to get our food.

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Japanese Chicken Yakitori (Barbecue) Recipe

Ever since I started eating healthy and hitting the gym, my mind has been overly preoccupied with food. And even in my sleep, all I see is food, just like this one recurring dream I have of me binging on Japanese fare like sushi, katsudon, or yakitori. 😀 I always wake up disoriented, salivating, and craving for anything Japanese. This torture has to stop! And I have always believed that the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Needless to say, I gave in. So one afternoon, I decided to prepare Japanese Chicken Yakitori for dinner.

I used to have an obsessive addiction with Tokyo Tokyoâ€™s Chicken Yakitori, until they decided to take it off their menu and replace it with Chicken Karaage, which I did NOT find hard to love as well. But it was truly overwhelming when I came across my long lost love, the Chicken Yakitori, once again at my previous work. They had a mean recipe for yakitori, so I made sure I learn it any way I could. So with that recipe at hand, I charged at our kitchen, only to be disappointed to find out that weâ€™re missing most of the ingredients I need. But like any good chef, one must learn how to improvise and be resourceful.

The original recipe calls for mirin (Japanese rice wine) and rice wine vinegar. I boldly substituted the mirin with red wine, and the rice wine vinegar with the regular distilled vinegar. But I suggest that if you plan to substitute the mirin, use white wine instead, since itâ€™s milder and sweeter.

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WAFU Greenhills Teppanyaki Omakase Buffet

Over a week ago, Ken and I were invited to a 12-course sit-down Teppanyaki Omakase buffet at WAFU in Greenhills. They’re a Japanese restaurant nestled right in front of the Greenhills Shopping Center. Since Ken has been craving for Japanese food for quite some time now, we accepted the invite right away.

I initially chuckled when I read the name of the restaurant. 😀 After Googling about it, I learned “Wafu” means, literally, “Japanese style“. I’ve had my fair share of Japanese food, particularly tempura, tonkatsu, sushi and sashimi, but I’m pretty sure there’s a ton more for us to know about their cuisine and their culture – which we’re hoping to continue learning through this blog. 🙂

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