Delicious Japanese at Izakaya Kikufuji

Despite the fact that Little Tokyo is walking distance from where I live, a few nights ago was my first time eating in one of its restaurant. Out of random picking, we ended up dining at Izakaya Kikufuji.

I was surprised by the dinner ambiance. The staff were wearing kimonos. There was a bar smacked in the middle of the restaurant with live seafood. Traditional Japanese tables where one sits on the floor, instead of sitting on a chair, are on one side of the establishment. 

I guess the crowd goes here to drink. Kikufuji’s patriots are used to hearty laughter and talking loudly while enjoying a bottle of sake. The restaurant even has cabinets of unfinished bottles so customers can come back and use the same upon return. Everyone who eats here is assumed to understand Japanese for the restaurant does not have menu in English descriptions.

For appetizers, we ordered the Tuna Sashimi (Php 220) or Maguro in their menu. The slices of tuna were fresh. It crumbles a little bit when eaten but there was not a hint of fishy taste. I was also informed by Tales that the restaurant offers different tuna sashimi grades. Now that is something to come back for.

The California Maki (Php 220) came in 8 pieces, which I believe is good for the price. The maki had a little too much rice wrapped around in proportion to the mango and kani. As for the taste, it was really good. The excessive amount of fish roe was great for the texture and the flavour.

I had Tempura Soba (Php 305). I love brown noodles so I figured to order this. It comes with a piece of tempura shrimp, tempura fish and on or two tempura eggplant. I can skip the tempura and order the plain soba (Php 190). The soup tasted great. It was cooked with the right sweetness and fine soup pulp (if that is the correct term). The noodle was not mushy. If the term “al dente” is an appropriate adjective for a Japanese dish, then the noodle was that.

Izakaya Kikufuji’s Gyudon (Php 300) was composed of thin beef, sotanghon noodle, and rice topped with sauce. The beef was thinly sliced, easy on the mouth although it came with a bit of fat. The noodle was good, it was not soggy and resisting when bitten. The rice was soft. The over-all taste was a little sweet with a slight herb-y taste I can’t quite determine. But think of this dish as a soup less Sukiyaki with rice, get the idea?

Because someone loves bacon (I think he’ll marry it if he can), the Enoki Bacon (Php 52 / stick) made its way to our table. It is thin mushrooms wrapped in bacon with an option to dip in Terriyaki sauce. It was a mouthful to chew but quite good. I would prefer it to be less salty. This is a great food to munch on to.

The menu does not offer dessert, so we asked. They offer green tea ice cream (Php 90) which I did not get to try because for every Php 500 spent, you can get a free iced coffee. It was good enough dessert for me. It tasted similarly to the iced coffee powder being sold by Nescafe but I really don’t mind.

If you find yourself in the area, this maybe one of the best places to go. I can’t wait to go back and try the tamago stuff.

Izakaya Kikufuji

2277 Pasong Tamo Makati City

(63 2) 8937319; (63 2) 8936131