Izakaya Kikufuji — Restaurant in Makati

⚠️🆕 Their food is great until today! Although iced coffee isn't free anymore ever since COVID-19 started, we still have great memories and a scrumptious teriyaki-sauced gindara to enjoy!

The area at the back is now NON-SMOKING.

Queue Tip / Q-Tip?: This restaurant gets crowded rather quickly during lunch & dinner, so try to reserve or arrive 15-30 minutes before opening time just to be sure. Long lines are managed with a number system similar to CDR-King. I suggest if there's no more room to wait inside, go back in every now & then because you might miss your number. They will call out your number but not with a megaphone. :)

BIG Tip: For those who'd like to lessen their chances of waiting longer, don't get a number at the main entrance & walk straight to the little pathway at the right side of the restaurant. Sometimes they have a queue too, but it's mostly less people. If a table there is vacant, you can go straight to it or out of politeness, still ask if it's occupied.

Lunch Tip: Best value for what you pay is during lunch because of their lunch sets that include free side dishes. The best ones are Spicy Tuna & Miso Soup. Dinner time makes everything an ala carte/single order option.

First-Timer Tip: For those who want to try a little of everything at the lowest price possible, go for the Makunouchi. You'll get a good mix of meats & veggies, fried, raw, grilled, you name it! You're most likely going to enjoy the grilled fish, particularly the shake (salmon). It's good for 1-2 hungry customers.

Must-Haves: Buri (Grilled Yellowtail Fillet) Gindara (Grilled Codfish with Teriyaki Sauce) Gyu Kushi (Skewered Grilled Wagyu Beef Cubes)

Sashimi Tip: Always be clear if your order is for, let's say, 8 pieces instead of 1 piece. In fact, apply this tip to all food items that can be served similarly.

Bill Tip: (1) You can ask for it from your table or (2) You, yourself, can pay at the cash register near the exit (also the entrance) before going. If you'll do the latter, make sure to bring the slip from where you dined. Sometimes it's behind your chair or attached on the small pillar closest to you. I used to inform my server everytime I'd do Bill Tip #2, but she'd then offer to take care of it for me instead, so I'd end up waiting again. :P

Service Tip: The servers are friendly so be nice to them! Tip Box is beside the cash register at the exit. Forgive the cashier if she gets moody or distracted. She punches all our bills down. Their supervisor is also accommodating & listens to your concerns.

The food here is just insanely excellent; I'm happy going here over...

Makati "not recommended" Japanese cuisine Izakaya Kikufuji

This place was recommended by a friend who has been here many times. But after coming, I didn't think it was that great, maybe because we didn't know what to order.

Apart from the food itself, the service is extremely poor :( Reviews mentioned that they provide tea, but they actually don't.

Waiters are very difficult to call, and they are not attentive when taking orders. On average, when ordering 5 items from the menu, more than 2 items are not available. We informed them that we wanted separate tables and separate orders and payments, but they lied and said that our friends had already allowed us to merge the payments. It's really unacceptable to lie so openly.

I asked how many pieces of assorted sashimi there were in the five-point sashimi, and they told me there were 3 pieces of 4 varieties. I was like ????

One glass of draft beer costs 88P but it has no fizz. I'm not sure how long it has been poured because the second glass, which was added later, had fizz, although not much. Some slices of sashimi had a fishy smell. There's nothing good to recommend. The tea-soaked rice is hard to describe, I don't recommend it.

The barbecue section is a nightmare. We waited for more than 30 minutes and they served burnt food to the customers. When we complained to the waiters, they said they couldn't do anything because they were not chefs. I asked how long it would take to redo the barbecue, and they told me 15 minutes, but earlier they told me that barbecue would take more than 30 minutes. What's going on??? Because the waiter's answers were too vague, I had already been scolded by my companions in the middle, and the skewers that came out later were not burnt.

But! ! ! One skewer of chicken was not cooked, it was raw. The waiter continued to deflect responsibility and refused to call the chef. She even said that their master doesn't speak or listen (?) (Then I wonder how they usually communicate with him)

The master, who is also the owner, doesn't seem to be good at speaking, but he has no problem with reading. Through the translator, he finally understood what happened, which shows that the waiter didn't tell the truth to the boss = = The boss waived our barbecue bill and apologized. To be honest, I'm not here to nitpick, but when customers are already very angry, and the waiter is still laughing on the side, it's really speechless.

I hope your store can improve its service quality, not...

I want to like kikufuji , the service was beyond awesome but being a Japanese food fanatic , this place was mediocre at best .

We got there at around 930 PM so there was no wait time . This is the third time I’ve been here and probably the last . I just feel like the quality isn’t as good as other top caliber stuff . The ratings this restaurant has is very high and the reviews and I really felt the Japanese Vibe once I entered .

The bathroom of this place was NASTY ! For crying out loud, your reataurant is in a high end place , and I’ve never seen an authentic Japanese restaurant with a nastyyy bathroom . First of all the toilet for men’s did not even have a toilet seat ewww . Does this place even have a manager ? Invest on your bathroom please . You have a never waiting wait time can’t you afford one ?

On to the food - what we got Wagyu cubes - very good and grilled perfectly 9/10 Chicken skin - not bad grilled perfectly as well 9/10 Sake salmon - 3/10 ( very fishy and not fresh tasting ) this is the third time I got sake here and it really disappointed me . The first time I got the sashimi combo so I thought that was the reason why the sashimi wasn’t as good so this time around I got the sake sashimi by itself and was more disappointed The cut was thick but the flavor didn’t pop at all . It also looked a bit dry .

Karage - 6/10 O- toro - 5 / 10 - a little cheap for OTORO . 1200 for 5 small pieces . While a tad bit cheaper than most , it was also a tad bit fishy .

Overall , the food was 5/10 . Our bill came up to 3500 with 4 beers . We didn’t even take the leftover home .

Please step up your game . I am now in the hunt again for some authentic Japanese in the Philippines . For now maybe I should stick to the fancy one in BGC which I wouldn’t name here because that would probably be...