[717] Restaurant Review - Nadai Fujisoba @ SM Aura

We've only eaten twice in Nadai Fujisoba at SM Aura. The first time we ate there I was shocked. Shocked why we never tried eating there before! Not only is the food really good, the price is very, very reasonable too! Oh, and did I mention they have free tenkasu (the deep fried  bits of tempura batter) to sprinkle to your udon / soba dishes as you please?

I can't find the official website (because I'm too lazy and the internet is so darn slow) but here's a link to Nadai Fujisoba's menu. You can find the prices of the items pictured below there.

Before I go on with the positives, just one quick negative. The service. Yes the crew are attentive. Yes they are pleasant to talk to. There are times when they get your order they forget something when they repeat your order. Probably because they don't write down orders. I have no idea why they don't write it down though. They sometimes have to be asked more than once for a spoon and fork set for my daughter, who still hasn't mastered using chopsticks. Basically very minor issues, nothing that would stop me from eating there again.

Again, the food there is good and the price is very reasonable. Just by the strength of these two points I am willing to go there again. And again. And again.

The first time we ate there I had the Yasai Kakiage Ten Tama Soba. It's basically a soba dish with a gigantic piece of kakiage on top. The kakiage has the usual onions and green leafy vegetables and carrots. It tasted great. The broth was light and not too salty. The soba noodles were firm. And the kakiage, good God, the kakiage. It tasted great with the broth, and it tasted great dipped in tempura sauce. It tasted great without any of the two either. It also had an egg, I thought it would be an ajitama egg but it wasn't. It went well with the soba though.

Yasai Kakiage Ten Tama Soba

Speaking of kakiage, they also have a side dish called Kakiage Mori. It consists of three different kakiages. The one on the dish above, a shrimp kakiage, and the best one of all (for Maica and I) one that has pickles. According to the menu it is called the Beni Shoga because that is the ingredient used in the kakiage.

Kakiage Mori Set (clockwise from top - Yasai Kakiage, Ko-ebi Kakiage, Beni Shoga (our favorite of the three)

After some quick research online, Beni shoga is a type of pickle, or tsukemono, made from ginger. You usually encounter this type of pickle in other restaurants that serve gyudon. Interestingly Nadai Fujisoba also serves gyudon and I may try it the next time we eat there.

This lunch (Easter lunch!) I ordered the Kitsune Soba to try something different. Another quick search on the internet tells me that the tofu product on top of the soba is not yuba as I originally thought, but aburaage - a deep fried tofu. The broth and soba noodles were the same as the one on the Yasai Kakiage Ten Tama Soba so I don't need to describe them again. They were good. That's it.

Kitsune Soba with Aburaage topping

Quick aside, whenever I eat there I add generous helping of the chili powder they provide. After checking my dear internet again, this chili powder is called Shichimi Togarashi. And yes, they make an already delicious broth come alive with some subtle heat.

Maica ordered the same dish both times we visited Nadai Fujisoba. The main reason for this is because they have the Teisyoku Set, that offers a rice bowl dish with a noodle dish. She's ordered the tendon (shrimp tempura) with kake soba (soba noodles with scallions) both times so she and Martina could share. Trust me, the teisyoku set is not only worth it, but it is good for two people. She says the food is good, and I believe her. Even Martina loves the tempura.

Teisyoku Set consisting of Ebi Tendon and Kake Soba

So there you have it. I highly recommend Nadai Fujisoba at SM Aura! Be patient with the staff because the food is worth it. Taste-wise and money-wise.

Out.

Gani's Restaurant Review: Maisen Katsu @ Greenbelt 5

Preface: So Maisen Katsu just recently opened in Greenbelt 5, and Maica spotted it a few weeks ago. She suggested we try it today, and I was willing to give it a shot. Maica had a work-related activity near Greenbelt so she took Martina there while I waited for them to finish. During this time I used the free wifi in the mall to read up on Maisen Katsu. Our Awesome Planet's article was the very informative and prepped me for our upcoming lunch.

Waiting for our food.

Background: After a few seconds of googling, apparently Maisen Katsu is one of, if not, the best tonkatsu restaurants in Japan. I'm not going to try and do hardcore research about why they decided to bring it here or what. You can read Our Awesome Planet's entry (link above) for background information.

Ambiance: I'll be honest, the location was outside the mall and it was small. When we got there it was full inside so we ate outside. I didn't mind, since there was a roof. Then again, ambiance isn't something I look out for too much. The design of the place was simple. Typical Manila katsu place full of wood and Japanese themed designs. I even heard a passerby wonder out loud if Yabu had opened a new branch. Yes, Maisen Katsu looks just like Yabu at first glance.

Looks like every other katsu place in Metro Manila.

Service: It just opened I think last month. Service is still good, the waitstaff were very friendly and helpful. Our server, Ms. Anne if I remember right, even taught me the different ways to enjoy my Katsumabushi Set lunch. They were very pleasing and helpful.

They were also very quick to refill the free cold tea and were always attentive. They were also very quick cleaning up! Once I was done with my lunch they got my tray (with my consent, of course) which was also good because I was slowly scavenging food from Maica and Martina.

Food presentation and taste: Typical katsu restaurant presentation. Once you've seen one style of presentation you've seen them all.

But the taste, oh man. It was good! My katsumabushi set was very delicious. I tried different ways of eating it. With and without the dashi broth. It was excellent. The meet was tender, and I never realized that wasabi tasted good with katsu until this afternoon. My meal was very delicious, and according to Maica her dish was also great.

My Katsumabushi Set

A close up of the rice with cubed katsu pieces

I was also able to sample some of Martina's kiddie meal since she didn't eat everything. I tried the tonkatsu sandwich, but it was a bit meh for me. The chicken karaage was great. It was very tender and tasty. I've never had a karaage like that here in Metro Manila. Though I have to end this paragraph with a footnote that I was sampling kiddie meal fare so they might have changed the recipe to account for a kid's taste buds.

Value for money: It's priced like your typical Metro Manila katsu place. Though it might seem a bit more expensive since they may charge the same but the quantity might be different. If I recall Yabu's similar priced katsu set offered more katsu in terms of grams than Maisen's. HOWEVER, the taste of Maisen is really better than Yabu's. It cost us a little over Php1200 for the three of us, but I honestly felt it was worth it.

Closing: It was my first time to eat at Maisen Katsu, but it has already jumped to the top of my favorite, er, commercial (meaning multiple branches usually located in malls) katsu places. Right now my ranking would be: 1. Maisen Katsu, 2. Saboten, 3. Ginza Bairin, and last but not least 4. Yabu.

That's how good Maisen Katsu is right now for me. Great taste, good presentation, good service. I only hope they can maintain this sort of quality as time goes by. I will definitely be eating there again, and I do hope you decide to try them to.

Out.