Japanese food: It's more fun at Ukiyo

I do love Japanese food in all its forms and variations; from the simple ramen house to the shabu-shabu resto to  high-end one where you try new things imported from Japan.

Ukiyo has become my recent fave for its simple but well-designed interiors as well as interesting dishes in addition to the usual.

Jorge Yulo and Ramon Agustines

I met Ramon Agustines and Jorge Yulo, the samurai behind Ukiyo, and enjoyed sharing a meal with them as they explained their concept.

Ukiyo is "the Floating World," a samurai stomping ground during Edo Japan. This is where samurai would find pleasure amongst the tea houses and geisha, kabuki houses and sake joints. In the same vein, Ukiyo the restaurant offers a hedonistic foodie experience with its exceptional, authentic Japanese food and delicious sochu, a Japanese distilled beverage made from barley.

I love all the little dishes in Japanese food, and these chicken wings, Tebasaki Karaage, are so delicious you would want a whole bucket full of them. But, that is not the Japanese way so let us move onto the next dish.

Their version of the all-time Filipino favorite, barbecue, is called Miso Kushikatu and is made with a special sauce which is very rich in flavor. Look how dark-colored these bad boys are!

A Japanese meal is not complete without its sushi or sashimi. My new favorite can, so far, only be found here: a flying fish roe and cod in wasabi mayo. When you bite into it, it is fresh, crunchy and familiar but different.

Ukiyo also has handmade rolls such as this one, the Nagoya Maki made with ebi fry and squid roll. I tend to avoid these because they fill me up too much, and the best is yet to come.

If you are tired of the same old ebi tempura, here is a different take, the Ebi Arare Age, crispy fried fish with rice cracker. I'm sure you are familiar with these rice balls you can sometimes find in Japanese cracker packets. 

And instead of all that sauce, they have wasabi salt that you can dip your tempura in. Amazeballs.

Another new favorite of mine is something that I requested. I had tried another version at Tsukiji and asked if Ukiyo could do the same, and they did! Love them. This I had on another occasion while having lunch with Jax. 

It's ikura together with salmon sashimi over a bed of sushi rice - heaven! It was served as a complete meal together with soup and pickles.

Notice how each serving dish is differently shaped and colored to suit the food item. All these were specially chosen by Yulo and Agustines while on various trips to Japan.

Another speciality of Ukiyo is that they serve seasonal dishes - meaning food seasonal to Japan which they import for us to enjoy minus the heavy airfare. Banzai!

Check of the legs on these babies. This Taraba Kani or king crab hails from Hokkaido and has the most succulent, sweetest meat you can imagine. Just dip it into a little vinegar and there you go. 

No self-respecting Japanese restaurant will forget its Western-Japanese cuisine. For those craving different kinds of pasta, there is the Ukiyo Special Pasta made with squid ink and uni. 

By now you must be thinking that I am such a pig. Well, the beauty of Japanese food, unlike say, Spanish food, is that it is very light and dishes are either raw, steamed, grilled with minimal oil. Furthermore, most of these dishes comprise of seafood so of course without a heavier protein you will feel hungry in like, 2 hours. 

So with that intro, let me introduce to you the mother of all pork shabu-shabu, the Hakkin Ton served with Yuzukoshou sauce. You though kurobuta was tops? Meet its bling brother, hakimbuta. First, the presentation of the pork. 

Just check out the marbling on that sucker. Pork has gotten a bad rap in the past (well, not in the Philippines obviously) but now the US says you CAN cook pork medium rather than medium well and it is still safe. 

Here are the vegetables and tofu that go into the shabu-shabu (read: fillers)

Now, look: this is my portion. Vellly small!

We did not eat this with rice; hence it made the gluttony ok.
Plus!
We washed it down with the shochu. This was the first time for me to try this lovely drink. It is smoother than whiskey even! And better yet, no hangover :)

Ukiyo serves 8 kinds of shochu. 8 different kinds of yum!

Jorge designed Ukiyo to look like a willow tree outside of The Floating World. It also feels like you are inside the belly of a whale. Subjective experiences such as it is with abstract art.

Ukiyo has a customer base of "those in the know" and with its limited seating, perhaps it would like to stay that way.

With its warm interiors, secret (ish) location and fantastic fare, Ukiyo is officially my new favorite Japanese restaurant for a special occasion!

Ukiyo
6/F Southgate Tower Alphaland
EDSA corner Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati
tel +632.310.5253
http://www.ukiyorestaurant.com/