Japan food tripping (but passport not necessary)

Mitsukoshi Fresh grocery --CONTRIBUTED

In surveys conducted online, Japanese cuisine is often mentioned among the top food choices. Its fans include Filipinos, especially those who appreciate fresh ingredients, notes Remedios Takahashi, a Filipina working for the Ajisho Kaisendon chain of restaurants in Japan. She now sits as president of its first ever branch in the Philippines, which opened in September 2023.

Takahashi tells Lifestyle that she feels heartened to hear comments from diners saying that the Japanese restaurant’s menu, consisting mostly of sushi and sashimi variants, tastes the same in her outlet at the basement of Mitsukoshi mall in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig as it does in Japan. She adds that the restaurant’s mother company in Japan was the one that suggested to her and the branch’s owner, Hideaki Fukui, to open shop at Mitsukoshi BGC, which is part of the Japanese department store chain.

Fledging entrepreneur Jhoana Sawada and her husband Kazuya Sawada, a Japanese national, were thinking along the same lines when they decided to start a dessert bar in the Philippines. “Our concept is very fit to the Mitsukoshi brand,” she said, adding that Sawada Ichigo Café is the first of its kind in the country.

Ichigo is the Japanese word for strawberry, thus all the products here are made of strawberry, specifically the Beni Hoppe variety known for having a well-balanced sweet and sour flavor. Another variety is the highly coveted shirayuki or white strawberry. The strawberries are sourced from a Japan Good Agricultural Practices (JGAP)-accredited farm in Chiba Prefecture owned by the family of one of Kazuya’s friends, and then flown into the Philippines already frozen.

Sawada Ichigo Café’s main product is the kezuri dessert that has only two ingredients: strawberries and Hokkaido milk. No need to add sugar, as the frozen concoction is naturally sweet. It’s then shaved, as kezuri means “shavings,” to create the tasty treat that truly refreshes and satisfies.

Food crawl

Ajisho Kaisendon and Sawada Ichigo Café are just two food destinations at Mitsukoshi BGC. Both are located at the podium level of the upscale residential condominium with a distinct Japanese concept called The Seasons Residences. We got to visit a dozen more dining spots at last Tuesday’s food tour that took us around the mall, from the basement to the ground floor and on the second floor.

At the basement, there’s the Itadaki Food Court that features mostly Japanese specialties, from Saboten Express, Chibo Okonomiyaki, Mitsuyado Seimen, and Nadai Fujisoba to Coco Ichibaya, Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory, and Cuddle, plus other Asian flavors, like Lam Mien and Manila Inasal.

This part of the mall is also where the grocery, Mitsukoshi Fresh, is located. Majority of the items here are imported from Japan, thus the Nihongo labels. But the store’s staff is willing to answer questions and give explanations. Sampling and free tasting activities are regularly held for customers to learn more about the Japanese items. There are other products sourced across the Philippines, notably oysters from Tayabas Bay in Quezon province served fresh or baked.

Mitsukoshi Fresh president and head of merchandising

On the ground floor, there are more choices offered by Prologue that specializes in French-European dishes, and Key Coffee with its trademark Japanese beverages and pastries.

More options

Dining options become more varied on the second floor with the Cantonese restaurant Spice and Soy, as well as the Catalan-Mediterranean restaurant El Born with its wildly popular cheesecake.

Then there’s the international franchise of Japanese hotpot Bijin Nabe with its signature collagen-rich soup base imported from Japan. This soup base is made of a special and high quality breed of chicken called jidori. Its meat and bones are stewed for eight hours until everything dissolves and results in pudding-like product.

Filipino diners really appreciate the use of very good ingredients, according to Alyanna Uy, who owns Cuddle, Prologue, and Bijin Nabe’s branch in the Philippines. She explains to us, “I think everybody is getting educated in giving value to quality. I feel that compared to a few years back, people are now more willing to pay if they know that the ingredients are good.

“If they know you use, for instance, truffle or duck, or Japanese Wagyu A5 beef, they expect the food to be pricier. It’s more acceptable now. I think it’s because of exposure to other cuisines. It’s like the growth trend in the food industry.”