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Showing posts with label japanese food in tomas morato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japanese food in tomas morato. Show all posts
Friday, October 18, 2019
NANKA JAPANESE RESTAURANT: QUEZON CITY'S SECRET STEAK PLACE

I found myself driving to a familiar location in the metro. Granted that I live up north, I figured that this Japanese restaurant would be able to give me my fix of wants and needs food wise. Nestled in a quiet spot just off the Tomas Morato/ Timog Area in Quezon City is NANKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE. Generally speaking, the place serves Japanese food. In particular, they brand themselves as a Japanese Steakhouse.
What makes it different from a normal steakhouse? They prepare and serve the meat in a way that accentuate the flavors. The sauces are also leaning towards the Japanese side of things. If steaks are their bread and butter, then their appetizers and main courses follow suit as well. One could start with some Fried Oyster Mushroom. This would go well with an ice cold beer. Speaking of, this combination would work well during the night as they have live bands perform.
It seems that seafood is also one of their specialty. They make sure to get to freshest ingredients that the market could offer. The Grilled Ahi Tuna is made from fish that is flown in twice a week. It doesn't get any better than that.The Togarashi Shrimp are plump and juicy.
Oysters are also a champion choice when visiting NANKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE.  Each bite is just perfect. It does what it needs to do.
For pasta people, the Prawn Garlic noodles does its job. The pasta is cooked perfectly and the shrimp easy. If one could just slurp everything they could.
Another must order for seafood lovers would be their GARLIC CRAB. Although it might be a little pricey since it is based on market price, you are assured of its glorious meat and sauce. In all honesty, you could scoop everything and dump it on a cup of rice.
It isn't a steakhouse if it doesn't serve steak. The kitchen can prepare a number of steak choices. Of course they ask for your preference in terms of doneness. At most, one should choose medium well. Never well done. Granted that some find it too much to see the red in meat but that is just a mixture of water and protein. This BLACK ONYX TOMAHAWK goes perfectly well with the different sauces and side dishes that it comes with. One could go for simple rice or deep fried potatoes or other choices as well.
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Dessert is made by their in house chef. Another thing that NANKA is known for would be their in house bakery. They offer different cakes and has tons of dessert to go with your meal.


NANKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE is located at 1810 Mother Ignacia Ave Cor Roces Avenue, Quezon City. Near the rotunda. Parking is available.




Disclaimer:wrote this based on my opinion. was invited to try out the dishes.
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015
NIHONBASHITEI: Japanese Food in Tomas Morato

IT was set. I have been drooling at photos of Japanese food from people in the Tomas Morato Area. Apparently, a new Japanese Restaurant opened up. TOMAS MORATO welcomes NIHONBASHITEI. This Japanese foodie place is part of a chain of restaurants. Originally, they started in Makati and had finally branched out here in the north.

 I have been talking to Chef ERICA of 49B Heirloom fame and my poptalk partner for quite sometime and she mentioned that NIHONBASHITEI has been a go to place for late night Japanese treat. The only problem she mentioned was that of parking. Boy, sure it was a huge problem. When I went there around 9pm on a Thursday night, I had to circle the block a couple of times just to park on the street.

In any case, I met up with her and I was quite pleased with what I saw.
A huge open space greeted me as I entered. They had the Japanese bar on the first floor and around 4-5 tables to accompany it. A few Japanese Chefs were there so I was pleased with the way they handled the food.

We chose to eat in the second floor where the bbq happens. Here, the tables are equipped with grillers to cook meat. One thing to note though, the exhaust is not that good so bring an extra shirt to change into after eating.
 They also had VIP rooms for the added privacy. The big rooms could be turned into a function rooms with karaokes. Although they would require a consumable amount, I guess it's worth the price.

Now on to the meal.
We started the night with some SPICY SALMON SASHIMI (280PHP).
IT wasn't as spicy as what we would love to so we added some hot chili spice. I did enjoy the flavor of the salmon.

Another seafood dish that we went for was the SABA SHIOYAKI (230Php) or Grilled Mackerel.
One side of the fish was served perfectly grilled. The meat was flavorful and was salty as the sea. Just give me rice and I am good to go.

Another great find is the ASARI BUTTER (180Php) Steamed clams in Sake and Butter. Thank you Chef Erica!!!! This was a revelation. IT was definitely the best dish of the night.
This right here is the bomb! The clams were perfectly cooked in butter and sake. The mix works. I mean the sauce in itself is perfect with rice even without the clams. Do what she did. Separate the clams from the shell and enjoy it. Each spoon full and you would definitely savor the flavor. Amazing.

If you can't decide on what to get, you could go for the BENTO. This one is the UME BENTO (350Php). It came with appetizer, tuna sashimi, egg omelette or Tamago, tonkatsu, grilled salmon, sauteed beef and some simmered veggies. It also came with miso soup and a cup of rice.
  Being able to try a lot of dishes in one go is definitely a must. So order a bento that tickle your fancy. The fact that this one has katsu, salmon and beef, already makes it a winner.
 One thing that I would have to say though is that their tuna sashimi wasn't as fresh as what I would have wanted it to be. So, we left it untouched. 

Aside from the parking problem, NIHONBASHITEI in TOMAS MORATO is the perfect late night place for a Japanese food run. Since it is open until the wee hours of the night, you could definitely have a fill of your Japanese food cravings here. Service can be erratic at times and it took forever for them to get our bill even if there were only a few tables left. I believe it is because they are still on soft opening status. They still don't have a computerized system for it. The staff are attentive although some foodies might say that during peek hours, the service suffers. I will definitely go back for my late night japanese food cravings though. Specially when there are less people eating and more space to park my car. 



NIHONBASHITEI
1st and 2nd floor
Vizio Bldg
183 Barangay Sacred Heart
Tomas Morato
11am to 2am



Disclaimer: Wrote this based on my experience.
Paid for our meals.

Thanks Chef Erica for the awesome Food tripping! See you soon dear!
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Wednesday, September 9, 2015
GO-EN RAMEN: Adding a little spank to Japanese Food.

Japanese comfort food is hard to find nowadays. It's either the food is lousy or too expensive. Luckily, I found a nice restaurant with the perfect Japanese ambiance and amazing food at an affordable price.

GO-EN RAMEN is a quiet Japanese Restaurant that you could not see from the street. You need to really know the place if you are planning to go here. Located in the same compound as LIVESTOCK (click here for my livestock experience), you could be assured of privacy and also of quiet time.

Once you enter the place, you are greeted by these adorable and cute Japanese Toys. 
These are what you call KENDAMA. The basic objective is to catch the ball on a specific part of the wooden toy.   


I also liked that they sell these things alongside manga and other Japanese novelty items.

 One thing that you must take note of is that the KENDAMA is the way for you to be able to get a cheaper meal. How? You just have to do the trick they ask for consecutively and you can get as high as 50% off your meal. 

 The OWNER JOHN looks and talks like an American but has been a resident of JAPAN for the longest time. He brought his love for the Japanese culture to the Philippines and as such, GO-EN was born. 
Definitely the right way to start a Japanese meal, GYOZA (250Php) was served. One bite and I was impressed. As GO-EN ramen seemed like a hole in a wall place, I didn't know that they could deliver food of this quality. 

The CHICKEN KARA-AGE (250Php) is something that would force you to order rice.  The chicken meat is moist and the outer shell is perfect. Not overly crunchy but just right with every bite.

One thing that I enjoyed with my Japanese trip was having to experience Japanese Pancakes. Good thing that GO-EN also serve these goodies. The OKONOMIYAKI (350Php) though is not your ordinary pancake. IT is borderline omelette and pancake. 
 Their version has crispy bacon on top that gives the texture some crunch. Also, having the right amount of sweetness definitely got me enjoying this dish. 

It was a pleasant surprise as I was able to enjoy some of their RAMEN DISHES. 

First up was the TANTANMEN RAMEN (380Php). This dish right here has been a corner stone of every ramen house I have visited. One thing to note though, it is usually spicy. GO-EN's version is lowered down a notch. According to the owners, certain customers love the taste but has had trouble with the heat level, as such tweaked it a bit to make it less spicy. Some Japanese Condiments are available to add just in case you want it fiery hot.

A definite crowd favorite, the CHEESE RAMEN (350Php) is a stunner at first look. Being topped with a lot of cheese, the chef wanted for the diners to taste it one level at a time. Not really to mix everything in the fray, it would be best to have a bite that has the complete set up. I liked that the cheese went well with the broth. Adding some corn gives it more texture too.

 A safe bet for everyone though is the KOGASHI SHOYU (380Php). Shoyu or soy based, you get a taste of the chicken broth used alongside the soy. It may have a little smoky flavor but the addition of the different toppings and meat makes it a hearty meal.

For dessert, we got the MOCHI ICE CREAM (80Php). The Sakura Flavored dessert is a thing of beauty. As big as my hand, it has a neutral vanilla ice cream in the middle while the outer skin has the right amount of chewyness and softness. I enjoyed having it with every bite. Just a little secret though, the owners hand carry the ingredient to make the perfect mochi from Japan. So, it's that special. 
This is definitely a must GET DESSERT!!!

If you are into INSTAGRAM Follow me @mr_jeng. 

Aside from their starters and ramen flavors, GO-EN also serves a few more Japanese dishes that you could enjoy. Rather than usual one trick pony, their kitchen is a joy to watch. The fact that you could also get a huge discount with every meal makes you wonder when you will return. Cheers GO-EN. Can't wait to go back and play more KENDAMA


GO-EN RAMEN is located in the same compound as LIVESTOCK.

GO-EN RAMEN
34 Sgt Esguerra , Quezon City
Metro Manila
http://www.goenramen.com
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Disclaimer: was invited to try out the restaurant. Wrote this based on my opinion.
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Tuesday, August 6, 2013
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