Summer treats - reminiscing about Japan

The recent hot days brought back memories of summer in Japan. Those summers were hot and humid. Even if you were under the shade of a tree or building, it was still uncomfortable. So many of us stayed indoors to benefit from the air-conditioning at the laboratory in the university. Weekends would find us inside the malls if not in the parks. Outdoors, one had to get some drinks to help combat the heat and humidity as you go around. 

Of course, there were food and drinks that were summer-appropriate. I usually get Pocari Sweat or Calpis Water from the vending machines. But when you go to restaurants and the canteen, there will always be mugi cha or barley tea. This is served cold and is really refreshing. It goes well with your meals. They serve this as a service drink even before you're orders are served.

Mugi cha

Then there are the summer delicacies. One that I enjoy is unagi or eel. It's a good thing there's one Japanese restaurant near my home where I can enjoy really good unagi in the form of unagidon. Of course, there is also sashimi and our favorite would be shake or salmon sashimi.

Unagi don at the ABCT Restaurant at Sakura Circle

Shake (Salmon) sashimi

Not featured here are my favorite cold noodles - zaru soba and somen. I usually prepare my own at home thanks to the available ingredients from the supermarket or Japanese store nearby.

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ABCT Kaitenzushi

There is now a "conveyor belt" or "roller" sushi restaurant in Antipolo City. ABCT launched its Kaitenzushi a few months ago at their Sakura Circle hub near the Provincial Capitol/ Ynares Center. It is a welcome addition to the growing number of Japanese or Japanese-themed restaurants in the Rizal's capital city, which is also a pilgrimage site (i.e., the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage is visited by many especially during the summer months). I'm sharing a few photos the first time we were there when it was newly opened.

Makimono on the conveyor belt

There are common plates that are prepared and served by the chef. You can talk directly to the chef or staff if you want particular items on their menu.

Condiments like soy sauce, spices and pickles as well as the dishes to use for them are a provided at each table or counter. Chopsticks are also already provided to diners.

Chopsticks dipping dishes and sushi

I forget what this was but it's on the spicy side (dynamite sushi?) and included tuna, mango and fish eggs.

Wrist shot of my Seiko Tubbataha with the shake sashimi

Saba sushi plate. There were three pieces here but I already ate one before I took the photo. Saba is mackerel.

The color coded plates with their corresponding prices.

 

We inquired about the black plate items as we were curious if they had Otoro or Chutoro. Unfortunately, they didn't have the much except some exotic sounding stuff that we don't really like. The chef mentioned that it was difficult for the owner to source otoro. It has to be of really good quality for it to be used for sushi or sashimi. We'll be back for more sushi!

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Gezuki Japanese Restaurant, Marcos Highway, Antipolo City

There's a hidden gem of a Japanese-themed restaurant in Antipolo, Rizal. I thought it was inconspicuous in its location but spotting it many times along my commute, I couldn't help but be curious if its worth a visit and a meal. One evening, we did end up eating there as we traveled home from commitments in Quezon City. Gezuki Japanese Restaurant is located at the Max Fill gas station along Marcos Highway. It occupies the ground floor of the commercial building at the service station together with Big Al's, Pomodoro (another under the radar resto) and Kurimi.

Tuna sashimi

Sushi roll

Gyudon

Chicken teriyaki

I think the restaurant being located at a somewhat obscure service station along Marcos Highway in Antipolo makes it somewhat a "worst kept secret" in the city. The location is near SM Masinag so people will more likely go to the mall rather than make a stop at the station. I'm not sure if they get a lot of customers or if they're on Grab or Panda. But I hope they get more customers and maintain their business.

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Meals for rainy days - DIY ramen

It's been raining the past few days and someone said this might be one of those "siyam-siyam" referring to the duration of the heavy rains. "Siyam-siyam" directly translates into "nine-nine", and  I am not, however, going to dwell on the weather for this post. Rather, I will talk about what's good to eat during these times. Rainy days are also cooler days and what's really suitable for this weather is something that has soup in it. That would typically be nilaga, tinola or sinigang if you want some Filipino dish for your meals. We had some nilagang manok (literally boiled chicken, this is a clear broth usually with lettuce and potatoes) the previous day that we enjoyed for lunch and dinner. Some people would like some noodles and perhaps sotanghon or misua come to mind if you want something with soup. In our case, we love ramen so we crave for some during rainy days. While there's instant ramen (Nissin has some good ones), these are not as satisfying as the real deal. Fortunately, there's a middle ground...

DIY ramen from the ready made broth, noodles and chashu we usually buy from a Japanese grocery. I chanced upon a newly delivered salmon sashimi. Unfortunately, we didn't have other ingredients for the ramen except for nori (seaweed).

DIY tonkotsu ramen with chashu and nori - good enough for the rainy days!

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Sashimi and tempura from Jaam House of Sushi

We wanted to have an advance celebration of Father's Day at my parents' home in Cainta. And knowing that Tatay likes to eat Japanese food, we ordered sashimi and tempura for a Saturday lunch. We decided to try a recommendation from one of our friends. JAAM House of Sushi is located at Farmer's Market in Cubao. It was highly recommended by a couple of friends who also loved Japanese food and particularly sushi and sashimi. Since we preferred salmon over tuna, this could be quite tricky because if the salmon part is not the most suitable and is not prepared the right way, you won't have the desired texture and taste (maganit at malansa ang lalabas). So it's good that our order came out right and we got to enjoy our sashimi.

The sashimi platter was generous but we didn't have problems finishing it. There was some leftover from the lunch that my father and brother ate later during dinner.

The mixed tempura was also great with the prawns just the right size.

Here's the contact information for Jaam House of Sushi

We definitely enjoyed the sashimi and tempura and will likely order again for some occasion or maybe lunch or dinner. Just a tip: since you will be arranging the transport (via Grab or Lalamove or other services you may opt to use), be sure to give instructions to the rider for him/her to take care so the sashimi will arrive in great condition.

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