First Bite: Bento & Co

There's a new Japanese restaurant in Quezon City and it offers bento boxes and other favorites at pocket friendly prices. Bento & Co is one of the handful restaurants in the food complex along Lazcano and Mother Ignacia and it was one of my stops during a food crawl with some of my favorite foodies. 

Hello, Bento & Co! 

Specializing on the usual Japanese dishes like teriyaki, tempura, yakiniku, sashimi, ramen and the like, you'd surely be motivated to create your dream bento box. 

To create your own bento, you start with choosing your base from the options below then top it off with your preferred viand from its teriyaki, teppanyaki, tempura, and yakiniku viands.

First Bite: Fukurou Nihonryori

The third stop of our Zomato x ABS-CBN Marikina food crawl was supposed to be this well-loved ribs place but due to heavy rainfall, we had to make sudden changes and headed straight to the only Japanese restaurant on the list. And that’s Fukurou Nihonryori. 

Hello, Fukurou Nihonryori!

Almost everyone in the group was excited to this stop as the gloomy Saturday afternoon screams for some hot bowl of ramen. However, I was not so thrilled with this stop especially when M and R mentioned that this place serves below average dishes. But hey, they might have improved. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. 

We were only given 45 minutes to enjoy our food here as we were behind schedule. Good thing though that service was fast. 

First served were plates of Kani Salad (PHP128). Honestly, I though those were complimentary side dishes as I couldn’t even call it kani salad for I could count the number of thin kani strips with one hand. Taste-wise, I couldn’t even remember. 

First Bite: UMU Japanese Restaurant, Dusit Thani

I hardly visit Makati on a weeknight as I try my best to avoid wrinkles caused by stress and road rage. But this whole I-will-not-go-to-Makati is often forgotten when the words "free food" is in the picture. Oh gluttony, no wonder you’re part of the seven capital sins. Anyway, R invited me to join him, his parents and some of their company’s VPs for dinner at Dusit Thani. And since we’re talking about good food, I quickly said yes.

Hello, UMA!

UMA is Dusit Thani’s Japanese restaurant tucked inside the ground floor of the fancy looking hotel. We were welcomed by wait staff donned in kimonos and they quickly ushered us inside the huge restaurant. 

It is well decorated and every corner looks very Japanese. 

We spotted private dining rooms with Japanese sliding doors, a Japanese stone garden and lovely orchids on our way to our teppan table.

The teppan area is a bit cramped so make sure that you have done your business before sitting down. 

First served was our fish appetizer on some salty clear sauce. It didn’t really leave much impression except that the fish was rather chewy because of its skin.

The ginormous California Maki was served next and it made me wonder if I was just hungry but it was pretty good. The Japanese rice was delectable and wasn’t the type that would make you think if you were munching on rice or paste. 

The mango, kani and other ingredients also delighted my tastebuds. 

Restaurant Love: Mangetsu

It’s finally a few days before my birthday again! It means lots and lots of eating and planning lunch and dinner dates with the people I love. I just love celebrating birthdays (even if it’s not mine). 

I’ve been wanting to try Mangetsu for quite some time now and since some of my friends and I finally found a date where we’re all free, I took it as a chance for us to all go to that Japanese restaurant.

 Konnichiwa, Mangetsu!

 

I was a bit scared that we might not have seats given we're meeting on a Saturday so I made sure to reserve a table for 6 the day before. I was expecting a full house but there were still a few tables left vacant when we arrived. 

I love that they welcomed me by first name. It made me feel like a regular customer. :D