Isshin — Restaurant in Makati

Ate at this OG Japanese restaurant again after so many years. I was in the Pasay Road area two Saturdays ago when I saw the restaurant and decided to get some lunch there since it was already noon.

The place barely had any people for lunch. There was just this one Japanese young guy when I arrived. During my lunch there, an additional 3 more diners came in, and one of them was a Japanese lady. I guess there are still Japanese expats frequenting the place.

The service by the middle aged women wait staff was warm and friendly. It was obvious that they've been in those jobs for many years. When I came in the lady manager greeted me like I was entering her home.

I browsed through their weathered menu which had a lot of items but I settled for a soy-based ramen and some fried rice (chahan) because I've been binging on YouTube videos of restaurants in Japan specializing in ramen and fried rice, and I badly needed to eat some. I was excited for my orders.

The fried rice which was plentiful was very tasty. It was real Japanese fried rice in its flavor. It's something I couldn't replicate at home. It was very good.

The ramen, on the other hand, was kinda a let down. It didn't meet my expectations. First off, it was not piping hot. Secondly, I felt that the broth needed a little more flavor. Thirdly, the chashu was kinda dry and chewy. Only consolation was that I was given a generous number of slices of the chashu.

I give the food 3.5 stars.

The place is kinda dated but clean. Even the toilet was clean. The place was relatively quiet, just like in Japanese restaurants. There was no loud music that is typical of restaurants in the Philippines. Only time the quietness was broken was when the old women wait staff would talk loudly with each other.

All in all, I had a...

Isshin is a Japanese restaurant that is stuck in a time warp. Almost all the Japanese restaurants today have a more modern touch compared to Isshin. Even the menu is dated.

Ambiance: I feel like I’m stuck in an old Japanese restaurant in the 80s. The lights are dull and the interiors are tacky and heavy. The vibes are not comfortable and relaxing.

Food: Portions are big but the taste is mediocre.

Spicy Tuna Salad - The portions are big but the Spicy Tuna has no flavor and I had to add bad soy sauce to bring the flavors out.

Salmon Cheese Roll - It’s average at best.

Tekka Maki - The tuna is not as fresh, it’s frozen and it’s also average.

Crazy Maki - Below average and very dated.

Rice - They got the rice right though. Well seasoned. Sayang that they use frozen fish.

Service: It’s alright. The waitresses are old and I felt from them that they don’t wanna work there anymore.

Cleanliness: It’s clean but because of the ambiance, it doesn’t feel clean.

In conclusion, Isshin is a restaurant that’s below average, left behind by its competitors and is in dire need of a renovation and new menu development.

I wouldn’t recommend dining in here because if you’re going to spend 1.5k-3k in a Japanese restaurant, you might as well spend it in a nice place, not Isshin.

I am not mad I wasted my money here. I’m glad I know how below average it is, just so I can tell everyone that it’s beyond meh, and don’t waste your money and time here.

Eat great Japanese food. Don’t...

Ordered via grab and the food was just ok. Rice for sushi was squishy and overcooked and taste was just ok it was just edible but I don’t think I would order here again because the food experience was just so so. Even the wasabi was watery and like wet mud. Salmon sashimi looked like it had been frozen and thawed several times that when I ate it it was slightly bitter and I just ended up cooking it in soy sauce it was almost inedible as sashimi. The clear soup pork and seafood ramen was ok noodle quality was good but the soup itself looked like it was sloppily made. Overall I felt a little disgusted but didn’t want to throw away food because there are many people who are hungry these days so I ate the food but I would not recommend this...