Entries Tagged 'Japanese' ↓

Robotosan

It’s almost 12 noon, my girlfriend and I were discussing which place to try next with the number of new restaurants in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) and we ended at the quirkily-named Japanese Grill Buffet restaurant – Robotosan.

The big Robotosan logo is not new to me as I frequently pass by it’s brightly lit name-sign at night when I go to Starbucks BGC at the 32nd street.

The name alone is enough to pique your interest and try dining here at least once. It turned out that Robotosan was brought to life by the same people behind Sumosam, John and Yoko, Marciano’s, and Mr.Kurosawa. That explains the Japanese theme and the strikingly similar chairs from the other restaurants. 🙂

Aside from the children’s robot prints at the back of the chairs, the visual impact it would make on its customers would be its jagged interiors dominated by a web of intersecting columns solemnized by thick purple posts while tamed by the elegant grey cushion seats. A refreshing and interesting interior, I should say.

Robotosan Japanese Grill Buffet

Dimsum & Chicken Feet

The Grill & Plate #1

Ready Buffet

Now, it’s a Japanese grill buffet and not an anime convention hall, so we have to try the food. Marge and I decided to try the ready buffet first and do the grilling a bit later.

I got a decent serving of a hot miso soup bowl and some dimsum for appetizers. They have a good salad bar but I decided to go straight for my tummy-fillers.

This was followed by the in-demand ebi tempura and some pizza (see plate #1).

My second plate was defined by some California maki and its relatives, plus some of the main dishes.

Hot Dishes

Short Ribs / Korean BBQ

Fresh Buffet

Grilling

Their grills are of course, electronic. The socket under the table also served as my Wi-Fi charger before we actually used it for the electric grill. 🙂

About half of the long buffet table was comprised of different raw meat including Short Ribs for Korean BBQ and the likes.

For dessert, we had sweet mini cakes and sans rival. There was an option to create your own halo-halo and a selection of ice cream flavors plus some fruits.

Robotosan Plate #2

Verdict

If you are looking at a quick Japanese buffet with the option to grill in Bonifacio Global City, Robotosan is worth visiting.

But as a new buffet place, I believe their selection size still has room for additional variants. I actually enjoyed their desserts, albeit limited.

As much as I love their sans rival slices, maybe some Japanese inspired desserts would be a good complement since they are a Japanese buffet restaurant.

The buffet price of P529 to P669 would have been alright considering the location, but as mentioned above, they need to beef up their line some more. Or maybe they intentionally made it like that – simple and not too complicated. On the other hand, the grill table, ambiance, and service are all ok.

Robotosan Desserts

BigScoop Ice Cream

NomNom Tip:

I eventually got to try Robotosan during dinner time and it turns out that more variants are available at night which explains the nocturnal pricier rates. I was also able to catch some very good sylvanas at night which were missing during lunch. 🙂

It was generally a good experience and the crew/staff were friendly and accommodating from the ground floor until you are done and exit their door.

Robotosan

Japanese Grill Buffet

2F 32nd St., Crossroads, Bonifacio Global City

Tel number: (632)823-6988

Schedule:

Lunch: 11am-2:30pm

Dinner: 5:30pm-10:30pm

Price:

Monday-Thursday

Lunch – P529; Dinner – P629

Friday-Sunday

Lunch – P669; Dinner – P669

Children Below 4ft – P379

Left Over Price per head P789

Robotosan Crew / Satff

Robotosan @ Crossroads, Bonifacio Global City

Robotosan in BGC also offers ‘drink all you can‘ with soda/iced tea/lemonade at P79.

Yoshinoya is one of my favorite quick service Japanese restaurants. Although they often adjust their menu prices upward (specially in the previous year), their service is commendable and food quality is maintained.

Yoshinoya Pihilippines

So it’s always a good news to know when they have something new in their menu. In particular, I was invited to their launch last month wherein they introduced a number of new Yoshinoya dishes and highlighted some existing favorites such as the Shrimp Tempura, but now also served in a bowl .

Here are the new dishes from Yoshinoya Philippines:

Yoshinoya Tokyo Chicken – golden brown pieces of grilled chicken marinated in ginger-infused sauce served with mixed vegetables and steamed white rice.

Tokyo Chicken

Shrimp Tempura – crispy golden brown white prawn and deep fried garnished with a special tendon sauce.

Shrimp Tempura

Tokyo Beef – tender slices of beef with fresh onions sauteed and garnished with seasme seeds and capsicum slices over steaming white rice.

Tokyo Beef

Pork Tempura – breaded pork fillet with sweet potato and eggplant on the side over steaming white rice plus drizzled with special tendon sauce.

Pork Tempura

Veggie Beef – tender slices of beef simmered with onions in a broth of herbs and spices served with mixed vegetables and steaming white rice.

Veggie Beef

Chicken Tempura – breaded chicken chunks with sweet potato and eggplant fan on top of steaming white rice with special tendon sauce

Chicken Tempura

Pork Tongkatsu – deep-fried breaded pork fillet topped with special tonkatsu sauce with cabbage siding over steaming white rice

Pork Tongkatsu

Yoshi Chicken – deep fried and double coated marinated chicken dipped in a special sauce served with steaming rice.

Yoshi Chicken

Among the new offerings, I found the new Yoshinoya Yoshi Chicken most tempting.

Although obviously, it was concocted in response to the new fad of flavored chicken such as Bon Chon, Chicken Charlie, and Chicken Delish, Yoshinoya’s Yoshi Chicken is almost at par with the crunch and the flavor of the sauce.

I enjoyed the taste test and will surely be back to try all those new dishes from Yoshinoya in full servings. 🙂

Bon Chon, Chicken Charlie, and now – Chicken Delish! I made sure to check out this humble stall at the recently concluded Best Food Forward food fair held at NBC Tent in Bonifacio Global City over the weekend.

Chicken Delish

The foremost reason is because Chicken Delish owner Annalyn Jusay-Zoglmann pimped it out to me. 🙂 She is fellow blogger as well so I was curious on what she came up with since her sole (so far) and actual branch in Paranaque is beyond my reach.

Chicken Delish Sauces

It’s one of those home-style fried chicken made more special with its tasty sauces such as the sweet and spicy sauce, Pinoy barbecue, sriracha (Thai hot sauce mixed with butter and honey), Pinoy buffalo, and the good old salt and pepper. While still being improved, her bestsellers are the sweet and spicy sauce which was not surprising with Filipino customers.

For my part, I tried it with the sweet sauce last Saturday and was satisfied. The meat was still tender and juicy even if it was late in the afternoon already. The chapchae side dish I chose was also good even by itself. Hopefully I can try it with the Pinoy barbecue sauce soon.

Annalyn says that she was serving her gourmet-style fried chicken to her family even before the bonchon craze hit the metro. ” Chicken is something every member of my family loves and experimenting on the many ways to cook it was a natural progression of our passion for all things poultry-related.”

Chicken Delish @ Best Food Forward 2012

“It came to a point that I wasn’t just happy serving my chicken at home as I was also pondering my retirement from the corporate jungle and embarking on a business… I went ahead to test my business idea in the Soderno Sunday market last year and after its initial success with the weekend crowd, an opportunity came for me to open a stand-alone store at the Caltex Gas station in Better Living, Paranaque City. I’ve also been joining bazaars like the Midnight Mercato in the Fort to gain further exposure for my product,” adds Annalyn or AJ for short.

Chicken Delish Menu / Sidedish

Chicken Delish Price

Chicken Delish‘s four-piece chicken wings afford-ably cost P90 while the two-piece drumsticks are at P120. Feel free to share your experience with Chicken Delish in the comment section below specially if you’re from the south. 🙂

Best Food Forward Photos

Next, here are the other Best Food Forward photos I got from the food fair. Thanks to Nuffnang Philippines for the blogger tickets.

Picket Fence Ice Cream Cart

SkewU Skewers

Pink Wasabi

Mochiko Ice Cream and Ponzarotti

Pinoy Eats World

Best Food Forward Seminars and Cooking Demos

Med Chef

Chorizo Burger and a popcorn concessionaire

Crunchy Belly

Wagyu Burger and Special Chocolate booth

Moderne Culinaire Academy

JT's Manukan and Malabon Delicacies

Thai Cha Yen

Cuisiniers (left); Milk Chocolate booth (right)

88DB.com

Our Kitchen and OpenRice.com booth (I'm an OpenRicer myself!)

Yummy Magazine

Did you go to the Best Food Forward last weekend? How was it? Which were your favorite food concessionaire? NomNom’s choice from those I have tried are Crunchy Belly of Carlo’s Kitchen, SkewU, Pint Homemade Ice Cream, ButterBeer, and well, Chicken Delish.

🙂

Chef Christine Nicole Nicolas

Albeit Mr.Kurosawa Restaurant has been around for more than three years now (Eastwood branch), this was the first time I was able to try it in their Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila branch, which is on their second year of operations.

The Euro-Japanese mix concept is new to me as well. The owners described it as “Japanese cuisine with a touch of European flair” headed by corporate Chef Christine Nicole Nicolas, Chef Benjamin Gonzales, and Chef Florabel Co-Yatco.

French-Japanese items like tempura or gyoza souflaits, steaks and fine wines; Greek-Japanese items like Japanese kebabs and salads; Spanish-Japanese items like the japaella; and Italian-Japanese items such as pastas and pizza, are among some of the interesting fusion cuisines. This is complemented with traditional Japanese favourites such as kobe, teriyaki, tempura, donburi, sushi and sashimi.

New Offerings

Their new offerings include chicken, katsu dishes, and milk teas. They are the following:

Tongkatsu (Breaded deep-fried pork cutlet)

Fish Katsu (P268)

and Shrimp Katsu (top photo)

There are also Salmon Katsu (P448) and Torikatsu (P288) which I was not able to try. Regular iced tea are at about P70; add P30 for the large size.

Highly Recommended

Highly recommended are the 4pc. Chicken Wings called Last Samurai (P298) and Ebi Katsu (P398).

Last Samurai (Chicken Wings)

Ebi Tempura

Needs Improvement

On the other hand, thier range of milk teas need perking up. I found the Strawberry Yakult Milk Tea (Sakura) and Matcha Milk Tea (Yojimbo) ordinary.

I have yet to try the Winter Melon Milk Tea (Sanjuru).

Here are some more shots from their menu:

Mr. Kurasawa Menu

Mr, Kurusawa Ramen

Mr. Kurusawa Brain Freeze Beverages

Check out their branches below:

Eastwood Branch
G/F Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City
10am – 11pm (Sun to Thu)
10am – 12pm (Fri to Sat)
Tel no. (+632) 901-0825.

Resorts World Manila Branch
2F Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila, Pasay City
11am – 11pm Everyday
Tel no. (+632) 973-6213

Feel free to share your Mr. Kurusawa adventures here in case you have tried dining in any of their two branches. 🙂

NomNom got the chance to try out the newly opened SumoSam in Greenhills Town Center (near Gilmore). More specifically, we had the Samurai’s Choice bento box.

Samurai's Choice Bento Box

Although I was surprised with the hefty Php488 price of Samurai’s Choice at first, the menu indicated a lot of ingredients including chicken teriyaki and beef misono, among others. Moreover, I know that Sumosam is about quality and authentic japanese food so I’m did not pass judgement in a whiff.

And as I expected, I was not disappointed. All the ingredients were freshly made and satisfied my palate. To complete the set, Samurai’s Choice consists of a handful of chicken teriyaki serving, generous beef misono strips, slices of dory tepan, and some chunks of tuna with salmon sashimi, kani stick, a dash of bean sprouts, yasai itame, gohan, and dilis.

Japanese Rice with Black Sesame Seeds

Chicken Teriyaki and Dory Tepan

I love them all. The dilis in particular might appeal to the Filipino taste. It’s a bit tricky though since if not prepared properly and fresh, it might go the other way. The presentation is also outstanding as norm in Japanese standards.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi

Sumosam Dilis

Beef Misono (US Beef Knuckle)

If there’s anything lacking, it’s just my favorite – tempura. 🙂 Nonetheless, with a lot of ingredients that go with it, adding tempura might already be too much. You can share the bento meal with a friend, by the way, just add extra rice. 🙂

Perhaps they can offer variants in the near future substituting some of the components with tempura.

Bean Sprout

SumoSam Greenhills / Gilmore Samurai’s Choice bento meal definitely gets a thumbs up from NomNom. Try one yourself soon as it is only available from 11am – 2pm daily and only at SumoSam Greenhills Town Center branch.

Old Vine Restaurant

Venice Piazza once again becomes a perfect place for friends and family to get-together with mouth-watering line-up of great food, good booze with the “Platter for 8“.

Ramen Bar

Venice Piazza recently launched the Party Platter Promo. All your food favourites in just one plate! Platter for 8 is available on  all weekends from October 15 – November 2011

The Food

For only P800 satisfy your taste buds with scrumptious pasta dish from Empire Deli or Blackwood Bistro.

How about a food trip from Japan, Korea and China – all these restaurants are participating the Platter for 8 too!

Yoshi’s Platter from Ramen Bar

The Restaurants:  choose from 14 participating establishments.

• Pasta Trio Platter from Blackwood Bistro
• Fantastic Four Platter from Carlo’s Pizza

Stackers Burger cafe

• Empire Italian’s Platter from Empire Deli
• Korean Group Meals Platter from KBOP
• Salo-salo set from Kuse
• Little Asia Symphony of Flavors from the Little Asia
• Fish and Steak Platter from the Old Vine Grille
• Nachos and Wings Platter from Pinchos Bar & Restaurant
• Yoshi’s Platter from Ramen Bar
• Arianne’s Platter from The Red Crab Alimango’s House
• Cheaper by the Dozen by Sol Gelato
• Auss’m Party Platter from Stackers Burger Café
• James Dean Platter from The Sweet Pea
• Nakayoshi Platter from  Tokyo Café

Nachos Platter from Pinchos Bar & Restaurant

Wings Platter from Pinchos Bar & Restaurant

Blackwood Bistro

Aside from the Platter 8, here are other things you can do at the Fort:

• Enjoy Everyday Happy Hour with colleagues and a bottle of beer for only P30 on weekdays. But if that’s not enough, enjoy buy 1 take 1 cocktails for only P40.
• Rockeoke  from Wednesdays at 8pm with 88.8 band. Listen to the music of The Beatles, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, Gin Blossoms.
• Draybers every Saturdays at 7pm. With classic rock bands inspired by the likes of Lep Zeppelin, The Easgles, and Samantha.
• Spirit of ’67 every Sundays at 7pm. Enjoy good music from the 70s and good repertoire for the classics.

Yoshi's Platter from Ramen Bar has of course, Ramen! 🙂

12 Scoops of Ice Cream Dessert called 'Cheaper by the Dozen' from Sol Gelato - Yum!

So bring a healthy appetite when you come to the Venice Piazza Platter for 8!

Red Crab Alimango House

The Verdict

With the myriad of choices, NomNom’s Top 3 Picks of Recommend platters from among those we were able to try are the following:

• Korean Group Meals Platter from KBOP

• Salo-salo set from Kuse

• Yoshi’s Platter from Ramen Bar

Kuse

Ironically, only one of those three have photos in this article. I think we were too overwhelmed and busy eating hence the absence of their photos. lols 🙂

*Written by Marjorie Pineda and Jonel Uy for NomNomClub.com
There’s always room for more fun at Venice Piazza so bring your family and friends of 8 and celebrate good times. For more inquiries, call the concierge at 709-0888, 709-9888, and +63917817655.

So when are you visiting Venice Piazza for the Platter for 8? 🙂

We Filipinos are very familiar of festivals. With more than 7000 islands here in the Philippines, just imagine the number of festivals we celebrate in a year. Do we think that’s enough? Apparently, one cannot have too many festivals. On the 13th of October 2011, Appetite, together with Shangri-la Mall presented the Appetite Restaurant Festival to food writers, food photographers, food bloggers, and every kind of food enthusiasts.

Pages' Deli Meat Platter

Before going to the Appetite Restaurant Festival, I have prepared myself for a night of feasting so I did some chores which required walking from one mall to another. Finally, hungry from all that walking I headed to Shangri-la Mall for the upcoming festivities at the Appetite Restaurant Festival. Oh boy, did I have plenty to feast my eyes and mouth!

Cravings' Chicken A La Pobre

By now you might be thinking “what kind of festival is cooking at Shangri-la Mall”?

That was also my question when I arrived at Shangri-la Mall so I first stopped by at C2 Cuisine which I later learned is also one of the participating restaurants in the Appetite Restaurant Festival. The friendly C2 Cuisine staff instructed me to go to the ground floor where the Appetite Restaurant Festival will be held. I was thirty minutes early which is a good thing because I had all the pleasure of taking pictures of the different food selections at my pace.

I also had time to think about what to eat and try. There are lots (and I mean lots to choose from) and one can easily feel prey to gluttonous indulgences. After reaching the end of the station for pictures, the beginning of the festivities started.

Appetite Restaurant Festival Passport

Airplane Flight Theme

Apparently the theme is an airplane flight and that the guests are the passengers. Each passenger is given a passport which they have to show to each restaurant station for them to partake what the restaurant is offering. After the passenger receives his or her food, the passport is stamped which means that you have visited that station already. Apparently return visits were discouraged that time to accommodate other passengers.

Appetite Restaurant Festival filled the Shangri-La Mall Activity Area

By the way, the head flight crew is Sam O who donned a sexy flight attendant outfit. She introduced the representatives from Appetite Magazine and Shangri-la Mall who welcomed all the guests to try this one stop shop at the Appetite Restaurant Festival. The idea for the Appetite Restaurant Festival is to enjoy different cuisines coming from different locations: Asian, Mediterranean, American and European in just one stop which is Shangri-la Mall.

The Best from Classic Cuisine - C2

Lemongrass

What do I think of the concept? I love the idea! This is simply because it gives me choices on what to eat. I have a few favorite restaurants from the participating restaurants like Cravings and C2 Cuisine but I can’t go there every time. At the Appetite Restaurant Festivals I can still get something from the restaurants I frequent to and at the same time try also something new from other restaurants in just one stop. You have the elements of convenience and variety going on in just one location. I can imagine Sunday lunches with family or birthday celebrations being spent in the Appetite Restaurant Festivals.

Dessert Time!

It gives you that Sunday feeling of a laid-back eat-all-you can one-stop shop like the one in San Lorenzo’s place or the Sunday Market at the Lung Center (now moved somewhere!) but inside the mall. So for people who want to enjoy the comfort of an air-conditioned room with the feel of Sunday market menu, I highly recommend trying the Appetite Festival Restaurant.

Other participating restaurants include Lemongrass Asian Bistro, Cafe Provencal, Crustasia, Cyma, Pages, Pepper Lunch, Clawdaddy, Green Tomato, Secret Recipe, Pho Hoa, and Sing Hainanese Chicken House.

Appetite Magazine Dinner Event

Good food from Clawdaddy

I haven’t been back to the Appetite Restaurant Festival but I told the boys we ought to try it out after we get back from our diving trips. So far I want to know who has tried it too. Have you?

What was your experience during the Appetite Restaurant Festival? Drop me a link, a comment, or anything! I am really interested to know what you think of the Appetite Restaurant Festival.

For the whole second anniversary month of Marriott Hotel Manila this October 2011, Marriott Cafe is promoting their Lunch Buffet at 50% off until October 31!

Grilled Prawns

Feast on Marriott Café’s stuffed turkey, butter fried prawn on a bed of asparagus, blue marlin with tomato coulis, and Arabic chicken. All that even from appetizer, soup, salad, and dessert!

Together with some foodies, we got to try once more Marriott Cafe‘s international dishes last weekend.

I usually go around the buffet and pick only those that I liked. But this time around, I tried them by areas. 🙂

My first plate was Chinese-inspired with oriental dishes.

Oriental Dishes: (Japanese - left; Chinese - right)

The second plate was a Japanese special with maki, sushi, and one of my favorites – tempura, among others.

My third plate was from the Middle-East with beef skewers and grilled meat. 🙂

Middel Eastern & Western Plates (L-R)

The fourth plate has a western theme filled with steaks and some seafood.

Here are the other luscious photos I got during our lunch buffet at Marriott Cafe.

Salads

Steak

Marriott Cafe Dimsum

Chicken Dishes in various preparations

Roast Duck

Prawns prepared in a different away and served in singles

Desserts!

Marriot Cafe Desserts: Sweets, Cream Puffs, and Ice Cream!

Tiramisu Cream and Tarts!

Marriott Hotel's Marriott Cafe Buffet Lunch Promo

Visit Marriott Hotel and avail of this opportunity from October 1 to October 31, 2011 (Mondays-Saturdays) at the Marriott Cafe Lunch Buffet promo and get to enjoy a 5-star hotel dining experience with flowing ice tea at only half the price – P875 . 🙂