Kaizen Davao: Japanese Street Dining — Restaurant in Davao City

It's street dining. Expect the place to be smoky, busy, loud (expediter shouting, wait staff shouting back). There's a lot happening.

We got there around 530pm and was 9th on the list to get a table when they officially open around 6pm. And a few seconds before they officially open, the entire crew counts down and in the end turn on their lights. It's almost like it's a New Year's eve countdown on a nightly basis. That's something to actually capture on video if you're into that sort of thing.

My girlfriend and I wanted to get a table inside so we waited a few extra minutes even though our names were already called to a vacant table. Their dining area inside is small. It could accommodate around 8 people on 4 tables. This would be most likely because street dining in Japan is the same way. That's according to stories I've heard.

The food. Ah yes, the food. The rolls are aplenty. It can fill you up well since you get about 8 or 9 rolls depending on the kind you order. We ordered the Kaizen rolls and there were 8 (if I remember it correctly) in the serving. Quite a mouthful. And it tastes really well too.

We also ordered their Katsu Curry Rice and their Katsu donburi. Curry was just right. Not too spicy. The katsu was a bit small for my taste though and it had this resistance to my chews and bites. The Katsu donburi was good as well. The serving size wasn't that overwhelming and it was good enough for a single meal. Taste-wise, it was okay. The katsu though wasn't that tender as I'd hoped. Pretty much the same as the katsu curry we had.

And we also had four sticks of their pork belly yakitori. Those were quite a surprise. Whoever was on the grill, did a really good job. It was all tender to the bite and soft and chewy.

It was, overall, a pleasant experience to eat at Kaizen. If you don't mind dining along the street and being cramped with other diners, it's a good place to have dinner. And you don't have to break the bank to eat there too. The warm towel they give you before eating is a nice...

We came in early and we were able to skip the usual queue of people for Kaizen. We ordered ramen, unagi sushi and some maki. The order was served quickly. Ramen was okay but was not impressive. The maki did no better as it seemed like the ingredients were not that fresh. We were hoping the unagi would redeem everything but we were utterly disappointed. The fish was burnt underneath and the burned skin overwhelmed the overall taste. We were hoping more from Kaizen but apparently it was all false marketing. The price was not worth it. Worst of all, we were sweating the whole time. And we were already inside their supposedly 'air-conditioned' area. Unfortunately, I'm not recommending this place unless you want to instagram yourself buying some overpriced overhyped...

Overhyped and overpriced. California Maki: the mango was sliced so thinly it’s almost not there and the masago (orange fish roe) was spread so thinly I thought it was not a california maki (see pictures) More expensive than SM Grocery’s version which has more of the essential ingredients. Original Ramen: General Santos City has a cheaper version, almost one-third the cost yet tastes the same. This one has the following: broth, noodles, pork, egg and seaweed. With 5 basic ingredients, it was priced at P399. The soup was around mid-bowl. I thought it dried up. Lol. Manila also has ramen houses, one big bowl of ramen is priced at P360. Ambiance: passed as I like al fresco type of dining - small, open, and inviting. Service: basic. Lower your expectations, prepare...