Japanese Restaurants in Manila Recommended By My Friends
Options for Japanese restaurants in Manila are abundant. They are so many that it is actually hard to decide which one to go to. I’ve felt very fortunate to be in Manila because of the selection of Japanese restaurants. In fact, I have had more opportunities to eat at Japanese restaurants in the first one and a half months of our stay in Manila than any time in my life.
Here in this post I have summarized the recommendations of Japanese restaurants that were made by my friends. They are expats and non-Japanese living in Manila. If they recommend these restaurants, I thought that other expats and locals would enjoy them as well.
I am not a food critic, I am yet to learn where Japanese people like to go to in Manila and I have only been in Manila for a couple of months. Therefore, these are my very early exposure to the Japanese food scene in Manila and I hope you find this post helpful. I look forward to discovering and sharing more about Japanese restaurants in this mega city with my readers in the future!
FUKUDAYA
Fukudaya is a very authentic Japanese restaurant. The lunch menu is slightly more economical than the regular dinner menu. Therefore, I recommend going to Fukudaya for lunch if you would like to just try out the food there. Lunch specials are popular in Japan. I enjoy being able to order lunch specials in Manila! All the food I tried at Fukudaya was very tasty and the interior decor was modern and beautiful.
FUKUDAYA
The Plaza at Arya Residences
McKinley Parkway
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
PHONE: (0927)264 0171
KAZUNORI
Kazunori Restaurant is a Japanese restaurant located next to Mazda Show Room in Makati, Manila. When my friend took me there, I knew the food would be great because of its location being adjacent to a Japanese auto showroom. I found the food at Kazunori very authentic. If you would like to try the restaurant, going there during the lunch hours. The tempura we had was delicious. When you go to this restaurant for the first time, I recommend you look for the Mazda show room because the restaurant itself is a bit non-descriptive.
KAZUNORI MAKATI
2301 Chino Roces Ave
G/F Mazda Makati Building
Makati, 1231 Metro Manila
PHONE: (0917)836 2695
MITSUYADOU SEIMEN
Mitsuyado Seimen looked very popular among locals and I loved seeing that. The restaurant interior was fun and makes you feel like you are on a street in Japan. Since Mitsuyado Seimen is famous for the tsukemen, I should have ordered tsukemen, but I ordered a regular ramen bowl instead. The soup of the ramen was richer than you would find in Japan, but I find that the richer and thicker soup is more popular in the Philippines. They serve their home-made ramen noodles prepared at the store.
MITSUYADO SEI-MEN
22 Jupiter, Makati
1209 Metro Manila
The restaurant is located on the street between Urdanetta and Bel-Air Villages.
PHONE: (02) 511 1390
OGAWA
Ogawa in BGC seems very popular among locals. It is a casual Japanese restaurant located very close to High Street Mall in BGC. Their lunch menu had a good variety of options. As you can see the restaurant has many seating options and private rooms for group gatherings.
OGAWA
Second Floor, The Fort Strip
5th Avenue corner 28th Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
You can see the sign from the 5th Avenue.
PHONE: (02) 886 4994
YABU
This was my friend’s son’s favorite place in whole Manila. I remember how excited he was to go there for lunch. My kids fell in love with Yabu as well. The rice, miso soup, cabbage salad and fruits were all you can eat which was a big hit for my kids. A great place to take growing teenagers.
There are a number of branches of Yabu all over metro Manila. The best way to find it is to type in Yabu on your google map and find the nearest one from your location. When I was writing this, the website for Yabu was under maintenance. If I find it back up, I will try to link the website to this post.
RAMEN NAGI
Ramen Nagi is the only one on this post that we picked to go based on some online reviews. In Manila it is awesome that ramen is available for the cost that is almost the same as in Japan. I say this because ramen joints are deemed to be fancier in the U.S. in terms of pricing than in Japan where ramen is a very economical option. It is cool to see ramen has gained much popularity in the U.S., the Philippines and some other countries in the world because it was not the case when I was younger.
I would type in Ramen Nagi on a google map and search the nearest location from you.
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