Sushi Ninja — Restaurant in Muntinlupa

When a friend says to you "I know the best sushi place" and you are outside of Japan, I usually take it with a grain of salt HOWEVER in this case MIND BLOWN. Driving to the location in Alabang amidst a sprawling mall complex I was thinking "This can't be it. I held back judgement as the location is secondary.

The place itself had a kitschy vibe replete with Ninja Shuriken Stars embedded on the walls, but I still held back and trusted my companions recommendation to which I was glad I did.

1st up was the Spicy Salmon Salad, no greens here Salmon Chunks, Spicy Mayo, Negi and tempura flakes and shredded seaweed. Great Start.

Next up was the SAKURA MAKI (Salmon, Tamago, Cream Cheese, Spicy Mayo and Bonito Flakes on top.) I would liken it to a Philly Roll on Steroids and that would be doing it Injustice, The portions BTW are ridiculously huge. The smoky bonito flake played amazingly off the cream cheese. Amazing taste, My fav for sure.

OKINAWA TOSHI, this was something new for me. A creation by Chef Matthew Floro Tanjuakio. Coming out portioned in 4 lil plates, Seared Salmon, Cream Cheese, Truffle Oil, Some Secret Sauce on top on ebiko. Bite size power packed flavor.

KOENJI Maki, Kani, Ebi Tempura, topped with mango . Nice and clean with a bright taste.

The tempura ebi was XLARGE proportions, pretty much a crab leg.

All of it was great. Great in taste, value, creativity. My friends Jors and AA completely surprised me with these offering. I have eaten at Nobu, Matsudas, Tatsuki and this place holds it's own.

Come and run to this place if you are in the area. You won't be...

Have dined here a couple of times in the past, but today all the items we ordered were first timers. We tried the Mixed Poke, Kyoto Toshi, and the Marunouchi Toshi. Mixed Poke had a nice mix of sweet-spicy-salty flavor to it, fish was very fresh. No "lansa" at all. The Toshi is like a maki, but the rice is deep fried and the fillings are placed on top. All dishes tasted great! Only issue I have is that their prices are a bit prohibitive, meaning you can't really dine here as often as you would want. Service is ok, but when they are full expect your orders to take a bit more time to be served. Dining area is too dim to my liking (dinner time). It's probably better during the day. They may need to spruce up the place soon, especially the toilet.

Overall still a good dining experience. Would definitely return when...

Location: This branch was busy at lunch time. We entered as soon as the restaurant opened and it only took a short while for it to gradually get packed with customers coming from work. A lot of parking spaces are available at Westgate and some park roadside.

Food: The budget for one maki order is usually near P400 but they are worth it for the size and number of pieces. These are meant for sharing but I feel some people, such as myself, can have one all to themselves. Among the three that we ordered, my favorite was the Covarrubias Maki because of the chorizo twist. This restaurant does a great job in introducing fusion-type flavors! Generally, I enjoy maki with one "subo" to taste everything but every piece was a mouthful! They also have good Kani Salad and Leba (Chicken Liver),...