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/

Marching on at Umu

Pork Curry 

As if summer wasn't hot enough, Umu at Dusit Thani Manila has a special on Japanese curries for the month of March!

I fell in love with Japanese curry when I was living in Los Angeles. The rich and bold flavor of its spiciness is unique - my favorite is with ebi fry or chicken katsu. Now ebi fry is different from ebi tempura because the batter is more crunchy and a golden brown color while tempura is paler in color and a bit more soggy. 

It was nice to catch up with Danelle - it feels as if we hadn't seen each other in ages. Today, our view outside was a beautiful, lush green landscape - no rain in sight! Let my favorite season begin :)

Since this was a Friday and I am fasting, we ordered only seafood. I think Japanese food is great for Lent haha! Especially since I have given up pasta and any form of noodle for Lent. Now for me, this is an ultimate sacrifice!

Ebi Fry Curry 

The Ebi curry was delicious (forgive me for the photo as I dipped into it before taking the picture) and the sauce was as it should be. If I wasn't fasting, I would have eaten the whole thing!

Pickles tickle me pink!

 I also love condiments of any kind and the red pickles that typically accompany the curry have a bit of saltiness and the crunch is fabulous. So happy that Umu's Japanese Master Chef Hiroyuki Fukata remembered them - Japanese curry just ain't the same without it.

Ikura and salmon sashimi over sushi rice

 Aside from the curry I asked for my new favorite: salmon sashimi and ikura over sushi rice. It is a complete meal in itself!

What a difference a year can make - the things that have gone on in my life and Danelle's life were on the same path but now diverging...I'm ever thankful to God for all the blessings such as Danelle that he has given me in my life :)

Dusit Thani Manila
Ayala Center, Makati City
+632.238.8823

By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet: Rose

Have you ever been to one of the sushi restaurants that arrive to you via conveyor belt or in little sushi boats that meander slowly by, hoping to catch your eye?

I've been to a couple in San Francisco, and the concept is quite quaint. 

Now if you have never been to one, you can come to Rose to check out what I'm talking about. This very cute idea only works if the sushi found on the boats look appealing to eat. In fact, in the other restaurants I've been to that have this concept, the dishes are priced per color. For example, the gold plate is the uni sushi, the red plate is the ikura, so on and so forth. So at the end of the evening the server simply counts how many of each color you ate and adds it all up.

Rose's interiors are very simple: everyone sits around a big table where the boats pass by. This makes it difficult to talk to your friends across the way.

The problem with Rose is none of the sushi on the boats looked appetizing. The owner said they replace the sushi every 20 minutes but since no one ate the sushi off the boats, they kept circling around. Instead, I ordered off the menu: uni sashimi. It was very tasty.

I love edamame (soybeans to you folks!) and they had one on their menu with dynamite sauce. I decided to try it and got this:

The sauce was quite spicy and left a residue on my fingers after eating it - definitely not first date food! To wash down these interesting appetizers, we ordered some watermelon sake, which was pretty yummy.

The truth is, the menu wasn't very interesting to me. My friends who had gotten there before me had already ordered some dishes and I did enjoy the salmon dish with ikura on it but since I had salmon for lunch that day I didn't feel like having a whole salmon to myself. So I ordered the tuna tataki with their Rose sauce.

I did not enjoy the Rose sauce very much - it was spicy when it should have not been. I expected something more exciting, such as a ponzu something or other. Alas, I was left disappointed.

So finally, I ended this ordinary meal with dessert- salted caramel ice cream, which turned out to be extremely delicious. 

If you want to see little boat meander along which happen to have so-so sushi on it, then you can try Rose. Otherwise, come for some sushi off the menu and the watermelon sake.

Rose
The Grand Hamptons Tower
31st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues
Bonifacio Global City
Tel +0917.597.2573

Lunching light at Sugi

We were planning our first girlfriend's lunch for the year and couldn't decide on the option of restaurant.

One friend was preggy.

One friend was on the Cohen diet.

Another friend was on a break from the HCG diet.

Another friend wanted more options than just shabu-shabu.

Me? I was still on the seafood diet: when I see food, I eat it! (Don't hate me.)

So we all decided on Sugi in Greenbelt, where everyone knows your name if you're a regular. They'll even know how to prepare the dish the way you want it!

We saw Ines there and she greeted us Happy New Year and treated us to the yummy special for the month, the Kaisen Salada. It was fresh with its sashimi of salmon, tuna and white fish, along with yummy crunch greens and orange roe. (Thanks Ines!) Sugi has always been very good at offering new items on their menu.

January special: Kaisen Salada

After all that binge eating in December, I wanted healthy, yet filling seafood dishes. I ordered two of my favorite sushi:

Uni and Ikura sushi

I learned to eat ikura or salmon roe sushi while I was living in LA. There was a place called Sushi Sasabune on Sawtelle Boulevard that served only the freshest sushi of the day, and you weren't told beforehand what you were going to eat. All of the dishes were pleasant surprises and I this was the first time I learned the art of kaiseki. From then on, I was in love with the orange, glistening eggs that pop with flavor in your mouth when you bite into them. 

Now, I need carbs to be happy - I don't care what Mr Atkins or Ms South Beach or whoever says they are bad for you. I ordered ten cha soba just because I love the flavor of the green tea soba noodles paired with the crunchy ebi tempura. And I love dipping sauces! This came with TWO! 

I honestly can't eat more than 3 tempura in one sitting otherwise I start to feel sick. Remember that Saisaki promo, eat all you can tempura? My uncle could down 30 of them...that was then...

Best to make reservations when you eat here. I believe that Sugi is the most successful restaurant in all of Greenbelt 2. It must have good feng shui! :)

Sugi

Greenbelt 2

tel +632.757.3678

Umu: Konichiwa!

Whenever it rains, like today, I always think of Umu.

Why?

Because when I eat there with my friend Danelle, who is the PR of Dusit Thani Manila, we eat in the back room where they have a beautiful view of the garden  - and throughout our kuwento we see the weather change from sunny, to cloudy, to downright pouring. The back room of Umu is always hushed and private, perfect for the stories we share; away from any prying ears!

Being with Danelle makes any day bright, despite the weather outside!

At Umu, they have one of those huge books which they call their menu - very extensive, it has both traditional and new dishes, including a good selection of sake. I sometimes don't know what to order and just ask Danelle to get whatever is new.

Refreshing veggie and kani wrap with sesame seeds and salad

For traditional fare like sushi and sashimi, I love that they serve the fish at the perfect temperature - which is super cold! Each dish's presentation is simple yet beautiful. 

This gindara teriyaki looks so perfect, it looks as if it could be that plastic food you see in Japanese restaurant window displays. But I assure you, it is real, and utterly buttery delicious!

Wagyu steak: so sinfully good with each bite, now i'm just teasing you for the hell of it. 

Wagyu beef with bonito flakes, fried garlic and red peppercorns

 Umu has been having different food festivals. The teppanyaki festival included soup, seafood, meat, rice and dessert. Can you say stuffed? Total value for money.

Prawn and veggie teppan

love my dipping sauces!

fish teppan

This ice cream may look like pure vanilla but it is sake ice cream! The sake is very subtle in flavor but leaves a slight kick as the cream melts in your mouth! Banzai! Umu makes their own ice cream such as this - try the other flavors, all equally perfect in cleansing the palate after a big meal.

The disasters that hit Japan have affected us all - more directly for those specialty restaurants in Manila that have closed down because it could no longer get regular deliveries.

I'm happy that restaurants such as Umu are here to continue to serve us quality food with the freshest ingredients and still be able to provide the space that diners require when talking about highly delicate subjects :)

Till the next kuwentuhan Danelle!


Umu
Dusit Thani Manila
Arnaiz Avenue corner EDSA, Makati City
Tel +632.238.8888
www.dusit.com

When Shabu Isn't Wrong

There is was a spot in Greenbelt 5 I used to pass, wondering what it was going to be. I was with A once and she got excited when she saw it. "I love going there in San Mateo!" she says.

Yesterday, after salivating at the sign all these months, I was able to find out what all the excitement was all about. We were supposed to have a Japanese shabu-shabu lunch date with the CM but it ended up just being B, Marty, T and I eating all the glorious meat.

Now what I love most about eating at Ganso Shabuway are the good food and the simple choices. Such as: choosing which size portion to order. Or which broth to cook my meat in. Or what condiments to put into the dipping sauces. And which sauce to dip my meat or vegetables in.

Now here it is first come-first-serve but ironically, they also have a "priority list" (of which I was the only one on it). Fortunately, when I arrived here there were a few tables free, which were quickly taken in a matter of minutes. 

  I saw J and T here, who were here last week too

The Morenos love Shabuway! Guest appearance :)

Each table has one induction cooker for boiling the broths to cook the meat and veggies

Then they give you two sauces: creamy sesame and a tangy ponzu

Of which you need to add your condiments of green spring onion, garlic or radish and garlic

And voila! You have your choice of dipping sauces for your meal.

You can choose between Angus and Kobe beef, in three sizes: petite, regular and large. This meat comes with the usual Veggie A bunch. They bring you the veggies and tofu first, to tease you

or you can opt to upgrade your veggies to something a little more special, this one has asparagus, broccoli, squash and spinach

Now here is the cooking broth. One is a clean, seaweed broth and the other is a spicy miso base. Guess which one I prefer?

Then here comes the food porn

Can you just dieeeeee?? 

14 pieces of succulent, marbled, thinly sliced Angus beef and veggies for the regular portion at about 600 pesos. With the free house mogi cha, this is practically stealing! Especially when you compare it to a Japanese shabu-shabu place whose name sounds like a mermaid. And there's plenty of parking pa!

B said she liked to dip the meat and cabbage into the ponzu sauce and the mushroom fish balls (these taste really amazing, I swear) and tofu into the creamy sesame.

My only beef (pardon the pun) with this resto is that it didn't serve Japanese white rice, it just served normal rice. I'd pay extra for the Japanese version! 

On beef slice number 11, I thought I would not be able to make it to the finish line. I was full from the veggies, mushroom balls, tofu, sauce and rice. So I ditched the rice for the final stretch....

For dessert, they even have mochi balls, but I was too stuffed to try them.

"Regular portion" happy campers

"Large portion" happy camper. Keep that iced tea a-coming!

I'm so happy Ganso-Shabuway is here! When I said goodbye to J and T, and exclaimed how stuffed I was they said, "You wait and see after 2 hours. You'll be hungry again!"

You know what, they were right! I almost went back for dinner....

Ganso-Shabuway

2/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center Makati City