Fukui Omakase — Restaurant in Quezon City

To continue since Google had a word limit. My in-laws didn't like their chirashi because it was all cut up in small pieces. I had made up my mind to go for sushi at a dedicated sushi restaurant that's been around longer than most newly opened Japanese restaurants in town.

Even with a Japanese IH rice cooker, rice is the most difficult for me to cook. When you read your rice cooker manual and the cooking instructions in your bag of rice, there are many factors to consider to get the best tasting rice. I'd rather go to a full fledged sushi house that uses Korean or Japanese rice as they're almost similar performance-wise. If an ingredient can't perform, better get one that can.

I think that the ingredients in Fukui Omakase's chirashi was lacking to my in-laws' perspective. They're used to a wider variety and a bigger cut of the seafood. The smaller cuts in a bento box of sorts made it look compact and cute. However, it didn't really give them a "Wow!" factor. If packaging is everything, the Japanese and Italian are masters here. That's why it's Italian for formal dinners in Europe and North America while it would be Japanese for the Asian region. They're just known to excel in cuisine and its presentation.

The Katsu was certainly generous in portion. It was easier to eat than the organic pork I cooked with in Canada. They probably pounded it to submission for it to be eaten without a fight. The highlight for me was the giant ebi tempura. I had never seen tempura so huge in any restaurant I've dined in my life. I was pleased that they included radish as restaurants in Canada skimp on this. I would prefer that there was a few different salts to go with it. A restaurant that I dined in Skytree in 2017 had a placard explaining how to eat it Kansai style. I rather enjoyed it. When I returned to Canada, I would prepare different salts to enjoy my tempura even more. I use a variety of salts for cooking and serving.

Overall, I enjoyed this upscale restaurant and gave my compliments to the staff behind the counter upon leaving. The staff who served us were professional and helpful. They were slightly inundated because of the other groups of people dining there this evening. I didn't know this restaurant had been featured before on television.

Since I have just returned to the country, I am still discovering restaurants that meet my palate. Good eats can be found everywhere and sometimes, in unexpected places.

The last item I had was their matcha ice cream. It's supposed to be homemade. After trying the disastrous wasabi ice cream at Ramen Nagi, I avoided it here. Not to worry. Fukui Omakase serves real wasabi. I was surprised because it is CAD $30 for a small root. JAL flown Japanese parsley or mitsuba is CAD $8. Again, cooking Japanese food in Canada using ingredients coming from Japan comes at a price.

The matcha ice cream was mixed with adzuki. I really prefer pure and plain matcha ice cream. Mixing it with another ingredient in my opinion, lowers the quality and taste. That would be akin to diluting a product that's supposed to be in its pure form. I was surprised it came with a leaf wafer or cookie topped with gold foil. Gold foil became a trend many years ago in Canada. I considered if I should add it to my baking supplies. That would also mean I have to think of storage (temperature controlled) and tweezers for cooking. Food grade gold foil is delicate. The presentation was amazing. The flavor profile lacked the depth of matcha as the other ingredient cancelled it for me.

I have satisfied my search for delicious ramen in Manila. I still want to have delicious matcha ice cream. I'm satisfied with Fukui Omakase's offerings and general quality of food. I can appreciate the efforts they made to bring ingredients straight from Japan as their ebi tempura proves it. Forgot to add. You can also order menu items from the steak house upstairs here. I think they're related in terms of being able to...

The atmosphere of the restaurants makes you feel as though you've been transported to a different place. The dining area is a bit small, but does not feel cramped. Instead, the limited seating capacity allows for wonderful service as the staff is capable of being attentive to the needs of each table.

We ate: six kinds nigiri, soba, beef teppanyaki, and fried rice.

Six Kinds Nigiri - good value for money. The fish used was fresh and was not fishy at all. It came with the six types of nigiri as well as eight pieces of some type of maki. Everything was good. (1,100)

Beef Teppanyaki - the beef was very tender and the dipping sauce which tasted gingery perfectly complemented the meat as well as the side of vegetables. (around 1,000)

Soba - the soba appeared to be freshly made and was beautifully presented on the plate. The dipping sauce was very light but in my opinion was a tad bit underwhelming. (220)

Wagyu Fried Rice - it was fried rice. (200 or less)

Aside from the beautiful interior of the restaurant, my only caveat would be the acoustics of the place - in a packed restaurant of around 18 - 20 people, the voices of all the patrons bounce around the place. Instead of having a quiet and comfortable dinner with your companion, it could easily become a shouting (or raised voice) match against other diners.

Still, I greatly recommend this place. For a wonderful dining experience completed by the delicious food and beautiful interior of the restaurant, it does not break the bank. The place offers good...

Made a reservation a week before for 1pm, Sunday. Called ahead if I could come earlier, table was taken for 11am, understandable.

Upon arrival nearing 1pm, table wasn’t available until 1:15pm. If there are later reservations, make sure to remind your guests. We also ordered upon arrival so food would be ready when we got seated. In spite of the delay in the reserved table, service was terrible. For instance, food was served but no utensils yet. (Table was cleaned and only 1 utensil set was laid before doing a different task). Water was also given only after multiple requests. Tea was served but lacking 1, which I also had to ask for twice. Even if understaffed, priority should still be followed in terms of asking, I observed other tables getting water first, cleaned first, etc.

Kitchen is also rushing staff to serve once food is ready, causing them to drop other tasks and switch to serving. Food is good but not good enough to overshadow the service. (Tempura is good).

This was supposed to be an enjoyable lunch to celebrate graduation, but became a subpar lunch. I was also really looking forward to trying this after seeing it open, but unfortunately will...