First Bite: Maisen BGC

I was so excited when I found out that my good friend F accepted a job offer near my office. I finally have someone to drag with me for random cravings or sudden desire to burn some cash. (And by cash, I mean less than PHP500.) After two weeks of planning, we finally decided to have lunch one Friday at the newly opened Maisen branch at Shangri-La, Fort.

Hello, Maisen!

I headed straight to the new Japanese restaurant in town as I was expecting a long queue. (Maisen had an opening promo where they offered their 80g katsu for less than PHP100 for its first two days.) Luckily, there were a few seats by the bar so I managed to skip the queue and got a seat for me and my friend. 

As I waited for F, I read the menu highlighting Maisen’s new offerings and was curious with Cold Udon (PHP175). After a few more minutes, I decided to order it and paired it with a glass of Calamansi with Grenadine Iced Tea (PHP100, refillable).

Soon, F arrived and ordered a katsu set which I wasn’t able to take note of as I was too hungry as I skipped breakfast. 

While waiting for our orders, I took a peek of the main dining area of Maisen and was surprised that it was pretty small. I think a max of 40 diners will fit the air conditioned area. 

Stuck in Seoul: Food Café

Walking around Gyeongbukgong Palace, N Seoul Tower and the shopping streets of Dongdaemun drained me so much that I almost fainted. Then I realized, I wasn’t really tired… I was hungry. After convincing my mom and sister to stop shopping, we finally got out of the shopping mall and headed to… the tourist information center and asked for a nice place to eat. And the friendly staff mentioned Food Café. So off we go to the place they say that serve yummy Japanese dishes.

Hello, Food Café!

This simple food joint is located near the line of malls of Dongdaemun and the Dongdaemun subway station. And since it has a nice location, it was a bit packed with hungry night owls when we got there. Luckily, we easily got seats (and a table of course!).

After browsing the menu, we decided to go with Cheese in Pork Cutlet (7,000 ₩), Seafood Udon (6,000 ₩) and Vegetable Kimbap (3,000 ₩).

Service was quick and first served was the plate of cutlet.

It looked like your usual crunchy pork cutlet but each bite was delightfully cheesy. The melted cheese sure made this katsu a happy pill for the tummy.

I was looking forward to the seafood udon as I was freezing that night! And it did not fail me at all. It was served piping hot and it definitely warmed me, especially my tummy. 

Love at First Bite: Nadai Fujisoba

Random date nights (on weeknights) are the best. It’s a nice break from work and preparing dinner at home. R and I hardly have those lately so it was refreshing when he suggested that we eat out last week. And it was perfect as I just checked a list of restaurants I wanted to visit along high street. One of the restaurants I was eying was…

Nadai Fujisoba.

The cute soba and udon restaurant was half full when we arrived. Since R was hungry, we hurriedly ordered O-Ebi Ten Mori Soba (PHP260) and Niku Fuji Soba (PHP260). We also got Sobacha Pudding (PHP80) which the server initially described to be made of soba but it was tea pudding.

Service was very quick as our food was served within the 5 minute mark. I was impressed.

R’s cold noodles was served with two pieces of tempura and a cup of some sort of watered down soup which the server suggested to be mixed with the remaining dipping sauce and drink it like tea. It was said to help blood circulation. Not sure if it’s true but… okay!

Moshi Moshi: Moshi Koshi Noodle Boss

My boss has been telling me about this new Japanese restaurant called Moshi Koshi and how good the food was but for some reason, every time I plan to visit that place, something happens—my sister will be crying her eyes out because of our ex-pet Kermit the hermit crab, traffic, or something else that seemed to be bizarre. But come Christmas, one of my wishes came true.

Konnichiwa, Moshi Koshi Noodle Boss!

 

The place was empty when we arrived. I guess people were too busy lining up to watch the MMFF movies. (I watched Segunda Mano which turned out to be comedic!)

 

Just like a fast food chain, you have to approach the counter and order there. I ordered Kaki-age Udon (PHP140), Ebi Tempura Teishoku (PHP185), Chicken Teriyaki Bento (PHP220) and Japanese ice cream—Coffee and Green Tea (PHP55 each). Really affordable for Japanese food, right?

 

The service was also quick. First served was the ChickenTeriyaki Bento. I was planning to have it for myself but apparently, my sister wanted it. It was served with miso soup and four side dishes, one of which was shredded chicken that seemed to be more like chicken spread (and made me crave for bread).

It was the sweet and slightly oily type of chicken teriyaki. The meat was tender and well cooked. My sister also enjoyed the sidings (and she usually ignores these little things). For a price of PHP220, it really was worth every penny (uh, cent… uhm, peso).

 

Next served was the Ebi Tempura Teishoku which came with miso soup and one siding—potato salad. The ebi tempura was not the oily and 80% bread crumbs type. The shrimps used were fresh as well. The sauce that accompanied the dish was quite sweet. I was looking for a bit of ginger taste but I’m not sure if it was very mild or if it was not there at all. It would have been nice to have ginger to add some spice.

My mom loved the kakiage udon. It was a bit sweet because of some vegetables and the broth itself. The udon was really thick and filling. I could manage to only eat one string at a time. It was a bit oily for me though. Nonetheless, it was a good dish especially during the cold and rainy days.

The highlight of my visit though was the dessert. I wasn’t really expecting much from the ice cream as Moshi Koshi’s a noodle place but the ice cream, especially the coffee flavor, was really… really good!

 

I loved the texture of the coffee ice cream. It was very smooth and it was almost like gelato. It was creamy and had that coffee taste without the bitterness of it.

 

The green tea flavor on the other hand was not as smooth as coffee. It was a bit grainy for me. But, tea lovers out there, I’m sure that you’ll enjoy this. The tea taste was very strong yet, just like the coffee flavor, it was not bitter. Ice cream love!!!

I will definitely go back to try the other dishes and of course, another round of ice cream.

Moshi Koshi is located at #431 Shaw Boulevard, corner Ideal St., Mandaluyong City. It is right across the Goldilocks plant and Puregold Shaw.