Binge watching: Midnight Diner

Last Christmas eve and New Year's eve, I was binge watching on Netflix. Perhaps among my favorite series is another one I discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic along with Ted Lasso, which I like to rewatch. Midnight Diner is about a small restaurant in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo that's open only late nights to the early morning (hence the title). The central character is the owner, "Master", who only has few items on his menu but will make whatever you request He has some regular patrons; various characters including a bar owner/manager, a photographer, a group of single women, several salary-men, policemen, a sports enthusiast, a stripper, a mysterious fellow (who's usually cracking nuts or eggshells) and Yakuza gangsters. Each episode features a new or old patron with their favorite meals. The stories often are about their meals, why they eat them, why they like them, what they associate the food with. The Master has a soft spot for those who are often underdogs or who experience hardships or challenges with their personal lives.

Screenshot of the two series currently on Netflix but is said to be gone soon

It is easy to identify or associate with one or more of the characters in the series. Perhaps my familiarity with Japan adds to my connection with the series and its characters. Midnight Diner is probably among my current top five together with Seinfeld, Frasier, For All Mankind, and Ted Lasso. Sadly, it is supposed to end its run on Netflix so I am rewatching the series maybe for the last time at least on this platform.

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Pasta or noodle sauce from Japan?

I was looking for some pepperoncino pasta sauce but the Japanese and other Asian stores do not carry or are out of stock. My brother checked out a store near his workplace that he said had a good selection of products from Japan and got me a couple of packs. One of them is this sauce packet from Yamasa. While it looks like tomato based meat sauce for pasta, it is actually for udon.

Sauce from Yamasa

Details on the sauce at the back. There is no English translation so I had to dig deep in trying to understand how this sauce was used and for what recipes.

The pasta came out to be on the spicy side. We used linguini instead of spaghetti. And no, we had no udon at home so we improvised with pasta as substitute for udon.

 

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Another unagi don at ABCT, Sakura Circle

Our daughter asked me what was my favorite Japanese food. I replied unagidon. Unagi, of course, is eel. I first ate this while in Japan and that was definitely a good meal. Unagi can be tricky and I've tried maybe twice in local restaurants with one being somewhat malansa while the other was overcooked. They also didn't get the sauce right. Fast forward to a lunch a ABCT's East Ridge branch and I found authentic and delicious unagi don. Since then, I've enjoyed this meal from time to time at their Sakura Circle branch (we don't go to East Ridge often and it is a bit far).

Unagi don at ABCT is prepared by a chef trained in Japan

I will definitely come back for more of this dish!

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Ippudo's Zero Ramen

We had a nice lunch at Ippudo a couple of weeks ago and the staff offered their Zero Ramen as an option as we were browsing their menu. This tuned out to be one of best ramen we've had.

A bowl of Ippudo's Zero Ramen was just perfect and satisfying for lunch.

The wife and I got one bowl each (bowls 6 and 7 of 20 they prepared).

The card reads: 

"A year before opening Ippudo in 1985, founder and "Ramen King" Shigami Kawahara crafted this rare ramen in Fukuoka, Japan.

Zero features our signature tonkotsu broth; authentic Hakata-style noodles; tender, slow-cooked salted chashu; green onions; ajikijurage; and sesame seeds. Experience the origins of Ippudo's #WorldFamousRamen with this flavor-packed bowl. 

Loud slurps encouraged."

As this is a limited edition ramen, I'm not sure we'll be able to enjoy this again soon. I hope they serve this again at least during their anniversaries.

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Mitsukoshi at BGC

Last weekend, we decided to have a staycation of sorts at our condo unit at the Uptown Parksuites. We took the opportunity to explore the Mitsukoshi that is just across from our building.

The mall or department store (it is what they call it if we were in Japan) is located just across from our building. We just couldn't cross in front of the condo so we had to walk to the corner to cross the street.

At the basement level are shops and restaurants including many (most actually) Japanese eating options. These are some of the options at the Itadaki Food Court at basement level 1.

There's a Key Coffee branch at the building. This one opens at 7AM so you can have your coffee fix or breakfast before heading to work or school particularly on weekdays. Key Coffee came to the Philippines later than its competitor in Japan, UCC Coffee, which had established several branches around the country already.

We had planned to eat dinner at Mendokoro Ramen but settled for food at the food court instead. Here's my ramen from Mitsuyado Sei Men.

 I am already looking forward to the next time I go there so I can try out other restaurants. There is a Fully Booked x Kinokuniya collab branch at the store as well as a branch of Muji. But there are other stores inside that I have yet to check out. Maybe later this month there will be an opportunity to hang out there.

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Hakata Ikkousha, Cebu City

In a recent trip to Cebu, I found this Japanese restaurant at one of the major malls located in the North reclamation area. I extended my stay in Cebu for a couple of nights in order to catch up on work as well as to serve as a panel member in a webinar organized by our center.

Menu cover

Restaurant interior including visuals for the food they serve

They seem to have a bar for individual customers though it also looks like something for a salad bar.

I ordered tonkotsu ramen and gyoza. These are items I thought restaurants should not be wrong on if they included these in their menu.

Close up of the ramen, which I thought was good considering I had no expectations.

The gyoza was also good and on the crunchy side.

I thought the food was okay quality and quantity-wise and the prices translated to good value for money. Will I eat there again? Certainly, if I was craving for Japanese food and depending on the preference of company. When in Cebu, of course, there are many options and Japanese food is not a default.

 

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Comfort food on a hot day (saved by heavy rains in the evening)

It rained last Friday. It was strong and long enough to cool our area after another sizzling day. The rains are welcome as the past weeks saw the mercury rise to heat wave levels. I would normally go for some comfort food to conclude the work week. It just so happened that it rained while we were picking up our daughter from Kumon so we decided to just eat out for dinner at one of our favorite places.

Our go to place in Antipolo for Japanese food are not the branches of chain restos found in the nearby mall but this restaurant/izakaya near the provincial capitol - ABCT.

Zaru soba is probably my all-time favorite. I actually like it slightly more than ramen. But that's just me.

Cold soba is definitely a treat for me on a hot day. I also like the cold somen but somehow I could not find this in the menus of most Japanese restaurants here. It's only in Japan that I have enjoyed somen as it is supposed to be prepared and eaten. Another food I like and first enjoyed in Japan during the summer is unagi (eel) usually as unadon. They have this at ABCT and I order it sometimes (sometimes only because it is expensive) and they always get it right. Their chefs were trained in Japan and they are very particular about their dishes being authentic. I already look forward to the next visit to ABCT.

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Dinner at Kimono Ken, Rockwell Business Center, Ortigas Avenue

We haven't eaten at a Kimono Ken (or a Sumo Sam) in a while. Of course, that's because there are a lot of Japanese restaurants to choose from and we have our favorites or preferences when it comes these restaurants. And there are no Kimono Ken branches near us so that's probably the most logical reason we haven't eaten here for a while. But there was one and the only Japanese option near The Medical City last weekend so we decided to have an early dinner there.

Table setting

The wife ordered shake don and miso soup

I ordered shake sushi

Pork gyoza to partner with my cold soba

Perhaps one of my favorites and usual order at a Japanese restaurant is

The food was good. The shake/salmon was excellent! We had a very satisfying meal at Kimono Ken. I would say that the prices also didn't hurt the pocket so there's value for money here.

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Melt in your mouth mochi

A close friend gave me some omiyage (souvenir) from his recent trip to Japan. It was a box of mochi from Osaka.

Cocoa, matcha (green tea), ichigo (strawberry) and milk-flavored mochi

Details on the mochi and the mochi variants inside the box

One pack contained 6 pieces of mochi

The two packs inside the box

The mochi was delightful as it was both soft and fluffy in texture. It was practically 'melt in your mouth' in softness and tasted great.

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Ramen Kuroda at SM Marikina

We've eaten at Ramen Kuroda before but I had not taken photos of previous meals there. I decided to take a few photos of our lunch to share these in this post. Here are three bowls we ordered for lunch and the additional tempura we had.

Shiro ramen

Kuro ramen

Aka ramen

Tempura

 

Ramen Kuroda serves good quality ramen at relatively more affordable prices than other ramen shops. This branch's facilities and service is straightforward and efficient. Nice for a quick, no frills meal to satisfy ramen or Japanese food cravings.

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Back at Ooma, SM Megamall

This is a very late post from a lunch we had early this year. Since then, we've been to Ooma a few more times usually for lunches.

Maki for starters

Wagyu teppanyaki

A generous serving of tempura

Ooma is one of those places where they have a good variety of food on their menu. They are definitely not traditional Japanese but rather on the fusion side. It's good as you're able to enjoy a different take to what you might usually order in other Japanese restaurants.

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Comfort food: Beef hayashi rice at Botejyu

We now have many options for our Japanese food cravings. There's a Ramen Nagi, Marugame Udon and Botejyu nearby as well as our favorite local Japanese restaurant in ABCT at the Sakura Circle. Aside from our usual meals of ramen, tempura, curry, sushi, zaru soba, I kind of missed the beef hayashi rice. I used to have this for quick lunches at the university canteen at Yokohama National University. They serve really good hayashi rice there, which is filling and satisfying while also kind on the wallet.

Hayashi rice was one of my usual meals at the shokudo or canteen at the university

I sometime call it beef slop, which is how I describe this dish. It is similar to the simple curry rice that I also enjoyed as a quick meal. It is another meal that I associate with happy memories in Japan together with friends from different countries. 

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Dinner at Botejyu, Robinsons Antipolo

Japanese restaurant Botejyu recently opened its branch at Robinsons Antipolo. It was a welcome addition to the Japanese restaurants located at the mall and particularly at the annex. Nearby are Ramen Nagi and Marugame Udon.

Scallops and salmon sashimi, and takoyaki

Watermelon and grape shakes

Tuna, rice and salad

Their version of tonkotsu ramen

We like Botejyu because they have many items in their menu including sashimi and sushi. There's something to each of our likings. Ramen Nagi and other ramen restaurants are more specialized. Marugame Udon also has many items but I think Botejyu has the more versatile menu. It's good to have many choices though to satisfy our usual cravings for Japanese food.

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Lunch at Tokyo Market, Ayala 30th

This is a very late post of a lunch I enjoyed many months ago. I thought I had written about this but apparently the draft was buried with others that I have started writing but never got to finish. Our daughter participated in a summer activity the venue of which was at the Ayala 30th Mall in Pasig City. As I usually picked her up (her Mom usually dropped her off en route to her office), there were times when I was early enough to have a late lunch there. One discovery was a shop that also served meals. I could not really call it a restaurant because their main business was as a shop selling Japanese products. I had a nice lunch there though and wouldn't mind eating there again sometime soon.

Japanese citrus (mikan) juice

Ramen lunch set - included 3 pieces of gyoza

I had a nice lunch at Tokyo Market and also purchased a few items there to consume at home including some snacks and sauces. They also had orange juice imported from Japan that were on sale at the time. I got a couple of bottles to sample and ended up getting a couple more in the next week. I don't frequent this mall as our preferred destination in that area is Estancia Mall. I probably will drop by one time to get some stuff from their shop.

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Sigekiya Ramen at Estancia Mall

While we have been to Estancia Mall quite a number of times, I did not realize there was an entire wing that we haven't explored. I was wondering, for example, where Randy's Donuts was at the mall. Apparently, what we thought to be the SM Department Store being the end of the mall was not. There were more shops and stores beyond SM. That's how we discovered Sigekiya Ramen, which was at the second level of the mall.

A bowl of their Gojira ramen

This was a set that came with 3 pieces of gyoza.

The brand on the bowl

Sigekiya is supposed to be from Yokohama, Japan, which is one of the main reasons I decided to eat there for lunch.  I was not aware of the ramen shop when I was residing there as there were many other ramen shops in the city including around the university where I studied and my apartment along the Sotetsu Railway Line. I found this review of the ramen shop in Yokohama. Personally, I enjoyed my Gojira ramen and I was also happy to see that they had a junior size serving since my daughter cannot finish the full bowl of ramen that's usually served in other ramen shops. The noodles are on the large side and the broth is thick and tasty. Maybe it's me but it is also not so salty. I will probably return to have a taste of their tsukemen next time.

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Hakata Ton-Ichi Ramen

We discovered another ramen shop while staying in Makati earlier this month. It was good as we wanted to eat something not so heavy but not so light in terms of a meal. It was also an easy choice for our daughter who also loves ramen.

Hakata ramen

Hamburger steak with curry

Cheesy gyoza

Their ramen is somewhat refreshing for me considering the relatively richer, heavy choices from the likes of Ramen Nagi and Hanamaruken. It was also not as expensive as the other ramen shops so it wasn't heavy on the pockets or wallets, too.

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Summer treats - reminiscing about Japan

The recent hot days brought back memories of summer in Japan. Those summers were hot and humid. Even if you were under the shade of a tree or building, it was still uncomfortable. So many of us stayed indoors to benefit from the air-conditioning at the laboratory in the university. Weekends would find us inside the malls if not in the parks. Outdoors, one had to get some drinks to help combat the heat and humidity as you go around. 

Of course, there were food and drinks that were summer-appropriate. I usually get Pocari Sweat or Calpis Water from the vending machines. But when you go to restaurants and the canteen, there will always be mugi cha or barley tea. This is served cold and is really refreshing. It goes well with your meals. They serve this as a service drink even before you're orders are served.

Mugi cha

Then there are the summer delicacies. One that I enjoy is unagi or eel. It's a good thing there's one Japanese restaurant near my home where I can enjoy really good unagi in the form of unagidon. Of course, there is also sashimi and our favorite would be shake or salmon sashimi.

Unagi don at the ABCT Restaurant at Sakura Circle

Shake (Salmon) sashimi

Not featured here are my favorite cold noodles - zaru soba and somen. I usually prepare my own at home thanks to the available ingredients from the supermarket or Japanese store nearby.

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