Rarely Ordered | Adventurous dining made safe!

Rain, Fiel and RJ

This is the review that celebrates the return of RJ Palabasan – who just got home from Dubai after 7 months! RJ we miss and love you and we’re glad that you are back – you are indeed the proof that GMA must further secure the borders to our country.

We were actually supposed to attend a bloggers event sponsored by Coca-Cola; but when we arrived at Taste Asia, NO ONE WAS THERE! Turns out that the parteh was the day before! We’re sorry ate Aileen! We blame RJ! After getting laughed at by kuya Andrew, we decided to enjoy ourselves anyway by getting lost and eating where destiny took us!

Tempura restaurant at the Mall of Asia proved to be a very authentic yet very different sort of Japanese dining. First of all, they serve Japanese rice in all their dishes – which is a big deal because Japanese food really isn’t Japanese food without it. So for all other restaurants that serve normal rice – beware for this place rocks! Secondly, it is not as expensive as most authentic Japanese restaurants – so you get authentic Japanese food at about P150-P250 per dish. Lastly, they serve not-so-popular-here but very-popular-in-Japan dishes such as the Hamburger Curry Rice.

The three dishes featured here are novel – and they did not fail the Rarely Ordered expectations! And to top it off, we have a omfgsupergadengsizzlinghot reviewer in Rain Santos-Ocampo! This indeed is a great way to go! So here goes:

Buta Sansho Yaki (Pork Slices with Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach in a Special Sauce)

Fiel: The thing I loved in this one order is the variety of the stuff in it – which all complemented the sweet sauce nicely. The pork was soft, and cut in the same way as in Pork Asado. I love shiitake and spinach – which when all put together was a wonderful dancing variety while I ate it with rice. The sweetness wasn’t overpowering either. Very solid – 8/10!

Rain: This had a very good sweet sauce that blended well with the taste of spinach and shiitake mushrooms. Unfortunately, the pork slices in this dish didn’t seem to have much impact on me. 7/10.

RJ: The meat in this pork dish wasn’t very memorable. However, what made the impression in this dish was the Spinach - we were fighting over ‘em instead of the pork! The sauce was very good as it blended well with the pork and spinach. Recommended for those who like salty dishes. 7.5/10.

Ebi Bacon Furai (Fried Shrimp wrapped in Bacon)

Fiel: I felt that the bacon was non-existent for me in this dish. However, it was fried nicely and the sauce (which we theorize to be honey-mustard with Japanese mayonnaise and sesame seeds) was very good and different. Try imagining the taste – or better yet, try it! 7.7/10.

Rain: This went very well with the sauce. I loved the crunchiness of the batter and the subtle taste of bacon wrapped in shrimp. I was happy that the sauce they served to compliment the dish wasn’t the usual or common sauce one would expect to receive. 9/10.

RJ: I just HAD to try this dish. First of all, it has bacon; and everybody knows that bacon (and lesbians) make the world go round! It is also rare to find dishes with both shrimp and bacon in them - and it was awesome! I absolutely loved the sauce, which we deducted as honey mustard, Japanese mayo and sesame sesame seeds. I will definitely come back for this dish. 8.5/10.

Gyu Hamburg Curry Don (Beef Hamburger Patty Curry with Rice)

Fiel: This for me is just loooove – eating it made me feel some of my memories in Japan come back to me as I ate this dish happily there. So far, this is the only restaurant here that I know of that serves this – and trust me when I say they do it very well! The curry was blended just right and the hamburger patty was very juicy. For curry lovers out there, this is a must try. 9/10!

Rain: This had tender meat and was served with an ample amount of curry sauce mixed with veggie tidbits. The veggie bits made the curry sauce interestingly crunchy. I find that this dish reminds me of a regular Pinoy breakfast food because of the egg, rice, and meat combination only with the addition of the curry sauce and veggie bits- its a fun and filling dish! 8/10.

RJ: I got so used to eating Indian-style curry that I forgot how good other curry variants are. The curry sauce was excellent as it went surprisingly well with the patty. Eating a burger patty with curry sauce on a flat plate using chopsticks was a bit troublesome (we refused to use other utensils) but it was a fun experience. 7/10.

When we went: Saturday, August 9, 2008.
Where it is: Mall of Asia
Budget Range: About P150-P250 for good enough servings.

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