SPOONFUL - A Taste of Little Tokyo

It was my first time to visit Little Tokyo in Makati. I have heard of it before but my lazy ass is just too lazy to go down south to see the place. Fortunately, I have parents who also like Japanese food and wants to visit the area too (I don't drive and get by the city only by commuting :p). So off we went to Chino Roces and took a quick tour in Metro Manila's tiny land of the rising sun.

Adorned with paper lanterns and yakiniku tables, Little Tokyo is bustling with the smell of roasted sesame seeds and teriyaki sauce. The street lamps also add to the Japanese feels that we usually see in movies and TV shows.

We ate at Hana restaurant. Actually, there were other restaurants in Little Tokyo but what draw us to Hana was the smell of Takoyaki being cooked by the entrance. We wanted to try it so that's where we ate.

Okay. Time to get down with the food. What we had first was a plate of salmon sashimi that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of. It looked so delicious (and is very delicious!) that it was gone in a matter of minutes. hahaha :)

Next is a Japanese style crab rice. I forgot the actual name of the dish. But it was really good that we ordered another serving.

Glazed fried chicken with egg salad and mixed greens. I'm sorry but I am so bad with dish names :(

Mixed seafood and veggie tempura

Mixed maki platter. Again, the one with salmon was good. The tuna roll, for some reason was so spicy we couldn't eat it. The one at the upper left was the best for me.

The takoyaki! Okay. I have to explain something first. I don't usually eat takoyaki, because I find it too fishy. There are a lot of takoyaki places around but I don't really like their takoyaki. Surprisingly, I like Hana's! It was not fishy at all and it was done perfectly. Crisp, outer skin with soft fluffy center!

There are many Japanese places here in our country. Some are authentic and some are just adapted versions. I am not sure if Hana restaurant is as authentic as the other high end Japanese restos but the good food and the Japanese vibe is something what I can say is real.