xoushii's Gastronomic Adventures: Japanese

Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts

Friday, July 26, 2013

JiPan

Restaurant: JiPan (Japanese Bakeshop)
Budget: Php. 180.00 - 300.00

I was still in highschool when saw this restaurant at Megamall. I never tried eating there since I thought that all of their items are expensive like other Japanese restaurants, but I was wrong. XD

Kuni and I gave it a try, since we both like Japanese food and JiPan is one of the restaurants in SM Megamall that we haven't tried yet.

So we have tried...

Curry (Kare) Udon - Since my husband and I likes to eat curry, this is the very first dish that we have tried from JiPan.

Hamburg Steak - Meal for big tummies. This meal comes with chicken sotanghon soup, hamburger steak and veggies. Heavy and complete!

Hiyashi Chuka Soba (Cold Noodles) - Kuni was the one who ate this, right after his wisdom tooth got extracted. He says it was really good although he didn't get to enjoy it that much. The dish was loaded with pork, shredded crabstick, cucumber, and corn and tomatoes, which was unusual. It also had a light shoyu-based sauce.

Salmon Teriyaki - Very tasty! The salmon was cooked perfectly, the inside was not raw, but was still pink and the outside was nicely seared. (Mapapaextra rice ka sa sauce!). The sweet and salty teriyaki sauce was really delicious.

Karakuchi Negi Ramen (Spicy Pork) - Probably one of the tastiest ramen that I have tried. It's very rich in flavor, but since it contains pork, it is very oily XD

Bento (Pork Shogayaki Bento) - Very tasty. A complete meal, it comes with miso soup, picked eggplant, oyakodon, spicy pork with eggplant and salad.

Futomaki (Fat Rolls) - 8 pieces for Php. 100+, not bad.

Shoyu Ramen - Light and very comforting

Cheesy unknown bread (we forgot the name) - Baguette slice filled with white creamy sauce, ham, corn and topped with melted cheese. It was good, we both liked it and we recommend it!

Tuna Pan? - We were supposed to get the curry pan but mistakenly got this one. For tuna and cheese lovers.

Okonomiyaki Bread - The taste is slightly close to a real okonomiyaki. The obvious flavors are from the bonito flakes and beni shoga (Japanese pickle). Savory nonetheless.

Matcha mini croissant - For me, this is one of my favorite pastries from JiPan. The matcha icing/filling makes it different from other croissants and for me it is very addicting. (And yes I love matcha)

Matcha mochi doughnut - This is also one of my favorite desserts from JiPan. It's chewy since it is made out of mochi (rice cakes) and the matcha frosting is just right, not to sweet, not to bitter.

Kouign Amann - It's like a flattened croissant with crispy sugar glaze. It's quite sweet, I'm sure the average person will find it delightful.

Baked Sweet Potato - This is one of my husband's favorite bread from JiPan. It tastes like sweet mashed potato and is quite heavy.

Japanese Cheesecake - They said that it was their specialty, so we tried it but there was nothing extraordinary about it. The texture was similar to a chiffon cake but has a light cheesecake flavor.

Mochi (rolled in black sesame seeds) - Mini mochi roll filled with red bean paste covered with black sesame seeds.

Mango Parfait - Sweet and creamy. Perfect for a light dessert.

Most of their meals are really healthy and heavy, complete meal. That's why I love Japanese food. Now, JiPan is one of the restaurants that we usually visit whenever we are in Ortigas.

Complimentary Tea!

Japanese Genmaicha for Php. 100+ (Refillable water!)

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sambo Kojin - Eastwood

Restaurant: Sambo Kojin
Price Range: Eat All You Can Buffet (Php. 595 per head without drinks)

25 September 2011

(Pictures were taken with our camera phone, so expect low quality photos. XD)

Kuni and I went to Sambo Kojin and took their eat all you can challenge for 595php per head. I made a reservation two days before because I don't want to wait for a couple of hours (besides that, it was my birthday treat to Kuni, so everything should be planned.) Moving on, the staff were pretty impressive because they were all attentive and they even welcomed us with huge smile on their faces. "Irasshaimase~"

I really like their place because they have this high ceiling, white walls and clean floor which makes the place spacious and neat even there were so many customers. Sambo Kojin's place will give you the impression of dining in a fine hotel or restaurant. I am pretty sure that you will enjoy dining with your friends or family there.

Kuni and I love sushi so the very first food that we tried is their sushi. Before I forget, their sushi is not your ordinary sushi, they made variations of maki with different fillings and toppings like kiwi and cherries. Their sushi rice was cooked nicely, the seafood and fruit toppings were also fresh. Sambo Kojin also has kimbap or Korean sushi which is a bit similar to futomaki or fat/thick rolls.

I love salmon sashimi, so I grabbed a plate and filled it with salmon :3 Here's their sashimi section, btw.

Looking for banchan or Korean side dishes and salad? Don't worry because they have it all for you! (I ate a lot of kimchi and I even filled my bowl with kimchi x3) They have fresh lettuce, crushed red chili, sweet potato, sweet yam, kimchi, gochujang, carrots, cucumber and dried anchovies.

So if you are planning to make samgyeopsal or marinated and grilled meat wrapped in fresh lettuce, you can make as many as you like... Like we did x3

Kuni loves meat, so he went straight to Sambo Kojin's meat and seafood section. This is where you can get slices and pieces of meat that you want to grill. They have shrimps, salmon belly, tuna, pork, beef, asparagus wrapped with bacon or pork and etc. There were so many choices and I'm pretty sure that you will also have a hard time to choose what to grill because all of them were mouth watering and tempting :p

You will cook your own food using the yakiniku grill on your table which makes your Sambo Kojin experience more fun! They also has six different sauces on each table for grilling like Sambo Kojin sauce, ponzu sauce and pepper sauce which made our meat and seafood even more tasty.

Sambo Kojin uses good quality meat and seafood, you can actually tell it by it's look, texture, scent and tenderness. I hate lengua or ox tongue because it is hard to chew, but Sambo Kojin's lengua was very soft and chewy (you won't even notice it's lengua!) While Kuni hates liver because it has this odd taste, but Sambo Kojin's liver were different, it was fresh and you can actually enjoy eating liver without that odd smell and taste. Same goes to their pork and beef cuts, it was soft and chewy, so no comment at all.

The waiter offered us some Kamameshi (rice cooked in an iron pot topped with veggies and meat), but we refused his offer because eating rice in a buffet is a no no and besides that, we already know its taste. We usually pick unusual foods or dishes if we are in a buffet.

For those who wants just the usual, don't worry because they have plain rice, fried rice yakisoba (or stir fried noodles), miso soup, chapchae or Korean glass noodles, different kinds of tempura (deep fried veggies and meat) and stews. They also have tofu steak and kimchi jeon or kimchi pancakes.

Tofu Steak, Kimchi Jeon, Spicy Wings and Spicy Squid

Apparently, they don't have unlimited drinks like Tong Yang, but Sambo Kojin has a wide variety of drinks to choose from and you can even convert their single serving or regular iced tea to bottomless. They also have Japanese beers in their menu like Asahi which is our favorite, but we didn't get some because it will make us feel full right away. We had some hot tea for 48php... I think. (This is how we survived Sambo Kojin). My only comment here is, their drinks are quite pricey. Good thing I'm not a big fan of iced tea XD

If you like sweets like I do, then I am pretty sure that you will leave a room for dessert! Sambo Kojin has fruit slices, chocolate fondue, ice creams, cakes and brownies.

The desserts were usual, but it is enough to satisfy your sweet cravings and taste buds after a savory meal.

Here's what I picked for my dessert: Blueberry cheesecake, strawberry and vanilla ice cream (Big Scoop), pineapple chunks, sliced apple and a pastry dipped in melted chocolate :3

Sambo Kojin's layout was pretty nice because you can see their cooks/chefs preparing the foods and refilling the plates at the counter (They are right behind the counter). They were pretty impressive because you won't even see an empty plate at their food section or counter, they will refill or add more before it runs out. (Yes, you don't have to wait and you don't have to tell them.) The staff were pretty attentive and full of energy, you can actually see and feel that they were all happy to serve you.

For me, 595php is just right, not too pricey and not too cheap. You can have quality food, comforting ambiance and proper customer service. Kuni and I will definitely go back to Sambo Kojin, this time I will take a lot of pictures using our new camera~ I'm gonna gather up some friends too. We really had fun! Thank you Sambo Kojin! :3

Visit Sambo Kojin at Eastwood behind Somethin' Fishy
You can contact them at 421-0145 or 46 (For reservation and more information)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Mercato Centrale Adventure

Food Bazaar: Mercato Centrale
Price Range: Php. 200.00 - 500.00

02 April 2011: Our friend introduced Mercato Centrale to us. Mercato Centrale is located at the corner of 34th street and 8th avenue, Bonifacio Global City (Landmark: S&R). Quite a trip but I promise you lots of comforting and satisfying foods are waiting just for you!

Mercato Centrale has two big tents that time, each tent were filled with booths/stores that sell food (both indigenous and imported foods) and organic goodies! There are too many options to choose from! I will definitely go back to Mercato Centrale now that they added more booths and stores! Oh heaven.

This is the perfect place to spend time with friends, family, and loved ones! Come and visit them every Saturday and Sunday, 7am to 2pm.

Anyway, we went there for breakfast and it was hard for me choose because there were too many options so I just let my husband pick a meal for me.

Giga Bite Kebab: Chicken, Beef, and Shrimp Kebabs

Since both of us like eating kebab we ordered and tried those three yummy kebabs! For Php.170 you'll get one kebab, rice, a handful of veggies, pita, and hummus. Good deal right?

Giga Bite Kebab: Shrimp Kebab Meal

Giga Bite Kebab: Chicken and Beef kebabs

Giga Bite Kebab: Hummus

Their kebabs was really good, tasty, and chewy especially their beef kebab! The steamed veggies were also good and a bit crunchy... But their rice is sticky and mushy (malabsa) so I am a bit disappointed with their rice.

My husband also ordered

Big Bob's Charcoal Grilled Burgers: Wine and Cheese Steak Sandwich

My husband loves to eat beef so he ordered this Angus beef marinated in wine sandwich with cream cheese on top. Unfortunately, I already forgot the price. Anyway, I like this sandwich it's chewy and the beef was great, I was also surprised that the beef goes well with wine as marinate.

Jam Foods: Angus Beef Tapa for Php.120

Our friend ordered Jam Foods' Tapsilog (Angus Beef Tapa). Everybody loves to eat tapa! You should try Jam Foods' Angus beef tapa it was really good! Thin slices of beef , it even looks like gyudon for me. The only thing I hate about it is... It tastes just like an ordinary beef tapa but it was really heavenly, melts in your mouth, and full of flavor.

For our pica-pica...

Chuck's Grubberie: Beer Battered Fish and Chips!

This is not your ordinary fish and chips! It's lightly salted and battered that made the coating crisp... And the fish was really good and soft too!

...But something is missing, something refreshing, something that really goes well with fish chips... BEER!

They have: Dory for Php.150, Snapper for Php.200, Mahi Mahi for Php.250, Orange Roughy for Php.300. We picked dory because we're almost full and we have something else to buy.

For dessert! (My favorite part :3)

Mochiko! Ice cream filled mochis. I made a research about them before we went there and this is one of the goodies that I saw and caught my attention.

They have many flavors to choose from: azuki (red beans), black sesame, green tea, strawberry, caramel, coffee, avocado, vanilla, chocolate, and many more! For only Php.70

I love red beans so I ordered one yummy azuki mochi...

Mochiko's Azuki mochi Php70

It was really good and satisfying. Not too sweet and it also has red bean bits inside which made my sweet tooth satisfied!

Mochiko's Green tea mochi for Php.70

Our friend tried their green tea mochi, she said it was good as well! Oh man I love green tea but I love azuki beans more. I wasn't able to try it because I am too focused eating my azuki mochi! XD

Mochiko's Black Sesame mochi Php.70

My husband tried their black sesame mochi, I also tried it and surprisingly it was really good and it's not too sweet. Not only that, the smell was really tempting!

And then my husband saw...

Merry Moo's Candied Bacon

Merry Moo's Candied Bacon for Php 70 (I think)

Surprisingly, it was good, it tastes like cheese flavored ice cream (close enough), and it has bacons bits! Not too sweet and not too salty.

Merry Moo's ice cream flavors were really interesting, they had many flavors to choose from! So if you're sick and tired of eating ordinary ice cream, it's time for you to try Merry Moo's ice cream.

Flavors available that time: Earl grey tea, sea salt caramel, kahlua coffee, and french vanilla. I checked their site and I saw these other interesting flavors: rum and raisin, strawberry basil, apple cinnamon, and Aztec chocolate.

Moving on, I am a big fan of gelato so I ordered some...

Gelati's Toasted Marshmallow

Gelati's Toasted Marshmallow

My bad, I already forgot the price! Anyway, I just tasted heaven and I was overwhelmed by its sweetness. The texture was creamy and thick. It's just too sweet but it was good I just love the texture.