For the love of Japanese food!

If there's one thing that I could binge one, it would be Japanese food! On a particularly hungry day (or night), I would drag Kyle to one of my favorite stop for good Japanese food, Sambokojin. As most of you may already know, Sambokojin is a "grill and eat all you can" restaurant. Their buffet offers a lot of yakiniku varieties and a great plus is that they also serve cooked dishes. The cuisine is not limited to Japanese, but is composed of a fusion of Asian dishes.

Yesterday, our hunger pangs kicked-in, and we decided to treat it with a little Japanese cure :).

We were lucky enough to get seated immediately when we arrived at their West Avenue Branch, a bit past 12 noon.

On to the feast!

I immediately went to the sushi / sashimi station and was greeted by a colorful array of maki, sushi and sashimi.

    

My first two plates. Yes, I finished everything on those two plates. :D Both the salmon and tuna tasted fresh!

      

Next stop, the meats! Sambokojin offers a wide assortment of both marinated and non-marinated meats. I love the fact that they serve quality USDA beef which are very tender and flavorful when cooked. They also have a variety of bacon and beef  rolls, including my favorites, the bacon-asparagus and beef-enoki. (YUM!).

   

They also have a fried station where you can eat tempura to your heart's content! I do advise not to binge on tempura as this can fill you up very fast because of all the breading and oil.



Here's what we got:

      

      

I wasn't able to take anymore pictures after we sat down and started cooking. We got a few more plates after that round and also got some items from their dessert area.

Their dessert selections presented fresh fruits, assorted cakes and pastries, chocolate fondue and an ice cream station.

Our meal left us happy and very satisfied.

I find their buffet rate very reasonable. For just Php 699 per person (either lunch or dinner), you get to feast on quality dishes that will not disappoint your taste buds!

GOOD NEWS! They'll be opening a branch at SM MEGAMALL, soon.

SAMBOKOJIN

EDSA Branch - 207 EDSA, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City  (02) 726-4466 / (02) 726-4520 / 0917-8964465

West Avenue Branch - 15 West Avenue, Quezon City  (02) 372-8846 / (02) 921-2873 / 0917-8948845

Eastwood Branch - Eastwood Citywalk, Bagumbayan, Quezon City  (02) 421-0145 to 46 / 0917-3160144 / 0939-9340144

SM Southmall Branch - Ground Level Eastwing Food Street Alabang Zapote Road, Las Piñas City  (02) 511-7843 / (02) 511-7853 / 0917-8107833 / 0908-8757833

Celebrating Life at Octoboy

Last night we celebrated my dad's 63rd birthday at Octoboy, Tomas Morato. Octoboy is an establishment specializing in Japanese food.

My brother bought a couple of vouchers from Ensogo. The voucher was limited to the following food items: Okonomiyaki, Udon, Ramen and Sushi Rolls.

From that selection, we ordered the following:

Ramen - Roast Pork (Php 295) and Seafood (Php 285)

Udon - Beef Udon (Php 335)

Okonomiyaki - Octopus (Php 285) , Bacon (Php 290), Peppered Beef (Php 340) and Mushroom (Php 285)

Sushi Rolls - Unagi (Php 195), Philadelphia (Php 195) and California Crunch (Php 165)

The ramen were served first.

         

The Roast Pork Ramen had thin pork slices that had a decent amount of fat on it while the Seafood Ramen had kani, naruto maki and fish fillet. Both the Roast Pork Ramen (left) and Seafood Ramen (right) used miso as soup stock, and were garnished with spring onions and dried seaweed strips. The broth was really flavorful and it was a nice way to start our meal and warm our tummies.

The Beef Yakiudon came in next.



Stir fried noodles topped with beef strips, vegetables, Japanese mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce (I think). I couldn't really understand the overall flavor that it had, but it didn't taste bad. I guess it just had too many flavors in it.

Okonomiyaki (clockwise: Octopus, Bacon, Peppered Beef, and Mushroom) is basically like very soft and savory pancake wit toppings

            

The Octopus Okonomiyaki (octopus, mozzarella, okonomiyaki sauce, bonito shavings, Japanese mayonnaise and dried seaweed) had a very similar taste with their takoyaki.

The Bacon Okonomiyaki (bacon, mozzarella, okonomiyaki sauce, onion mayonnaise, lettuce and toasted cheddar) was very cheesy and was loaded with bacon in every bite.

The Peppered Beef Okonomiyaki (gyudon beef, mozzarella, black pepper sauce, miso mayonnaise, crispy onions and corn kernels) was the crowd favorite. It had a generous amount of beef with a peppery flavor that was balanced out by the mayonnaise.

Last was the Mushroom Okonomiyaki (sauteed mushroom, mozzarella, tonkatsu sauce, garlic mayonnaise, sauteed leeks and bacon bits). Unfortunately, this was the least liked and most forgettable among the four.

On to the next set, Sushi Rolls (left to right: California Crunch, Philadelphia Roll and Unagi Roll)



California Crunch is a variation of the traditional California Maki. This is basically california maki that's been fried and topped of with spicy mayonnaise. This one delivers a "kick", brought about by the spicy mayonnaise.

Philadelphia roll had salmon and cream cheese fillings and was also fried. I practically like almost anything with cream cheese in it, so this one's a keeper.

The Unagi Roll was the biggest disappointment of the night. The piece of eel that's used as the filling was tiny, and you could hardly taste the flavor of the eel. It was like eating a roll of rice with sweet sauce on it.

Over all, the food was just ok, nothing extraordinary.

 

Advisory: Certain portions of Tomas Morato's undergoing drainage improvements. Traffic is pretty heavy and parking is more limited than the usual.

OCTOBOY

Tomas Morato Branch - 186 Tomas Morato Corner Scout De Guia, Sacred Heart, Quezon City (02-9902357)

Banawe Branch - 670 Banawe Street, Santo Domingo, Quezon City (02-4092704, 02-5835496)

Libis Branch - Fourth Floor, Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City