Yayoi, Manila’s first Teishoku restaurant, opens in SM Megamall!
by: dekaphobe
November 22, 2016
As a fan of Japanese food, expect me to get ecstatic whenever a new Japanese resto opens. The place that got me excited last week is Yayoi (pronounced as ya-yo-ee), which officially opened last September 16. I was glad to be one of the lucky few to try it before it was opened to the public.
Yayoi is inspired by the Japanese culinary practice called ichiju-sansai, which means “one soup, three sides”, refers to meal consisting of rice and soup with three dishes (one main dish and two side dishes). The teishoku dining concept is similar to this culinary practice with set meals with meat or fish, miso soup, a bowl of rice and side dishes of vegetables and tsukemono (Japanese pickles).
Yayoi takes Manila dining experience up another notch by introducing the ordering system using the iPad menu, set up on each table in the restaurant.
Using the iPad menu, guests can view all the whole menu, order their food and drinks, check the status of their orders and even ask for the bill. My friends and I found this system quite convenient as we were able to monitor the status of our food.
We got to try 4 delicious Teishoku at Yayoi. We had the Namban Teishoku (Php 395) and Mix Toji Teishoku (Php 425).
Namban Teishoku is fried chicken steak in sweet and sour sauce topped in Yayoi tartar sauce. I love the crunchiness of the fried chicken steak, with a mix of creaminess from the tartar sauce. Mix Toji Teishoku has breaded pork loin, fried shrimp and sukiyaki beef mixed together with special sauce and egg. I liked Yayoi’s Mix Toji as it was a combination of two Japanese dishes that I like: Katsudon and Sukiyaki.
For seafood teishoku, we got to try the Saba Shio Teishoku (Php 425) and the Hitsumabushi (Php 650).
The Saba Shio Teishoku is salt-grilled mackerel, with each bite packed with flavor and saltiness that we didn’t need a dip to enjoy it. The Hitsumabushi, their most popular dish, is Nagoya-style grilled eel over rice, served with dashi broth. This teishoku comes with a set of instructions on how to best enjoy it: 1. Enjoy the original flavor. 2. Sprinkle the condiments (spring onions and wasabi), 3. Pour the dashi broth on rice. We tried all options and I enjoyed eating Hitsumabushi with a bit of wasabi on rice. 🙂
Overall, I was seriously impressed with all the dishes we had, especially the Hitsumabushi. The service was excellent and the prices are reasonable. I have yet to try the desserts, which means I need to return soon to try more dishes.
Thanks to Yayoi Philippines for having us.
SOURCE: http://www.dekaphobe.com/2016/09/yayoi-manilas-first-teishoku-restaurant.html
