I have little expectations when it comes to airport food but lately some good restaurants have founded their branches in terminals making us people in transit getting better choices when it comes to food. When we arrived in Changi Airport in Singapore, the group ate at Pasta de Waraku, a Casual Japanese Pasta and Cafe Restaurant. Waraku in Japanese means “Peace and Harmony” and seeing the warm interiors, nicely decorated walls filled up with patterns of their plate dishes and welcoming staff, I was already looking forward to have their meals.

Truth is, there is no shortage of Japanese-themed restaurants here. Some are more authentic than the others, some far removed from their Japanese roots. Which begs the question: is there really space for a new one? The people behind Nama Sakana believe that with their fusion cuisine, there is always room.
But first things first – what’s in a name? Nama Sakana is Nihongo for “raw fish”, an apt name for the restaurant has an extensive sushi bar. But as happyfoodies found out, this upscale Japanese restaurant has more than sushi to offer. Talk about Nobu-style Japanese fushion cuisine where traditional Japanese fare is tweaked to offer the diner a tasty twist on their favorites. Chef Rolly, who has worked for Nobu London for more than a decade, does a fine balancing act in coming up with Japanese food that tastes familiar and yet offers something new for the taste buds.

We venture to Mile Long and Makati Cinema Square every now and then and pass the small road leading to Makati Square. We often see the SERYNA signage flanking the side entrance to the Little Tokyo complex and wonder what’s there inside. Not that the place has received little media publicity but we always wanted to sample what’s been written about and what a steady stream of diners (evidenced by the endless flow of cars parked on the strip) has been dropping by for. Last weekend, we got a chance to do just that when a trip to another restaurant didn’t go as planned.

Being named after one of the special wards of Tokyo, Shinjuku Ramen House has some big shoes to fill. But this virtual institution in the restaurant front is more than capable of meeting big expectations and big appetites. I remembered eating at their rather non-descript branch in Makati Avenue years back and know from memory how good the food was.
Their other Makati branch was also rather old and non-descript until it got a major renovation some months back. As part of the Little Tokyo complex, it gets immediate attention from passersby since it is located along the busy thoroughfare of Pasong Tamo, at the much-coveted corner where one turns before heading off to Makati Cinema Square. At certain times of the day, the parking lot is full and the restaurant plays host to a mixed clientele eager to taste their authentic ramen and other Japanese fare.

The food court of a mall is normally NOT the place to look for decent Japanese food. Almost always, the “food court pricing” automatically means that the food outlet would scrimp on ingredients or cut corners, ergo less satisfying Japanese fare. But happily, we found an exception and it was literally right under our noses – Banzai Japanese Kitchen in the food court of Cash & Carry Mall.

Yakiniku is Japanese for “grilled meat”. Beef, pork and offal (entrails, internal organs) slices are cooked over coal (traditional), gas or electric (modern) grill and served with a soy-sauce-based dip. Yakiniku traces its origins to Korea but is different from Korean fare such as bulgogi as the customers themselves grill the meat.