Japanese restaurants

Time was when my two favorite Japanese restaurants were Ramen Tei and Kimpura. But Ramen Tei has since left Katipunan and I no longer know where it is. So now, Kimpura takes the solo slot in my top favorite Japanese restaurants list. I like their beef yakiniku, their garlic rice/mixed fried rice. My husband thinks their gindara teriyaki is tops and unbeatable.

Yesterday we were in Power plant and ate in Sumo Sam. I ordered the beef tenderloin but sadly, it was like bubble gum. Too chewy for comfort. But the marinade was ok. Fried rice was ok as well, and so with mixed vegetable tempura which had a few slices of shrimp. My husband ordered salmon teriyaki, my son had fish and tofu chips. he was shocked when he dipped the fish in the sauce provided and realized it had wasabi. Asked the waitress what would be a good substitute for the dip and she suggested tempura sauce as the fish (asuhos) was cooked tempura style. My son wasn't too enamored with the fish because he said it was too fleshy. My husband ate the salmon quietly.

Today, we had lunch in Teriyaki Boy to satiate my son's craving for its mabo tofu. He ordered that but couldn't finish it as there was just too much. A bit on the spicy side but ok. The beef tenderloin in Teriyaki Boy was superb. Just like yesterday I asked that it be prepared medium rare and at Teriyaki Boy, it was cooked just right. Ordered vegetable tempura but Sumo Sam's was better. My husband ordered salmon teriyaki again and no reactions were forthcoming from him. Since we paid using a Citibank card, we had free California maki. It was all right but I prefer the "cleaner" taste of california maki in Kimpura which wraps its version in nori. The one in Teriyaki Boy has fish roe (the orange stuff) around the rice. Not bad but I really prefer Kimpura's.

Also in Loyola Heights is Kami Rori whose gyoza (pork is cheaper than shrimp gyoza, i get the former as the latter doesn't taste that much different) is good, but not as good as Ramen Tei's. My son likes their torikatsu, I like their fried rice and beef teppan. I find their california maki too sweet. Their salmon and tuna sashimis are reasonably priced and very fresh.

Writing that comment on the sashimis brings to mind Cold Storage whose stuff reminds me of the word "catatonic". Their products are frozen stiff so much so that when you cook them, they don't taste like anything any longer. I always say "I'll try again" because they look so good while in the freezers but... So lately I have been confining my purchases from Cold Storage (Rustan's Katipunan has a CS freezer) to unagi (eel) which is ok. Rhe salmon sashimi is ok too, except that one can only buy them in huge (by my standards) quantities costing at least P200 plus.