Posts Tagged ‘grilled food

26
Mar
10

LETTERS FROM TOKYO #7 : YAKINIKU BUFFET

Dear Tina and Gabby,

Of course, you’re the first 2 people I miss when we went here…

Don.K! (pronounced by Japanese as donki and not what we think) is a YAKINIKU buffet restaurant near Ginza Street, Tokyo.

Gabby, remember when we dined at YAKIMIX at SM Mall of Asia few months back where you had fun time grilling our food on the spot ?  Don.K! is like that; however I find our local version of Yakiniku more Pinoy-family-friendly. Why?  The moment we’re on their long queue last Sunday and paid Y1000/pax (or PhP 500/pax;  I and nurse Ruth were treated by our consultants :D ) , the wait staff immediately warned us that we only have ONE HOUR TO EAT. That applies to every table, FYI.

Yes, dining experience at Don. K! is limited to an hour only. Unlike in Yakimix where we started our dinner then at 5:30 PM and ended at almost 10PM, hahaha! (Erratum : Don.K! lunch buffet starts 10 or 11am and ends in 3pm; we arrived at past 1pm and had a table reserved; we  got in at around 2pm so we only got an hour left to eat. BUT IT’S NOT ONE HOUR DINING ONLY. Sorry).

But what can we do with Don.K! rules except to follow. Nevertheless, it was another remarkable gastronomic adventure!

On Don.K!’s spread…

Freshest & crisp greens with several dressings to choose from…

On my gluttonous plate …

I liked their potato salad; one of the best I’ve tasted so far.

Yakiniku literally means ‘grilled meat dishes’ ... Here are the large bowls of raw meat all waiting to be grilled…

I know Holy Week is just around the corner and we’ll miss eating all these until Easter.

There were also some noodle and rice dishes… I like the noodle with fresh bean sprouts… yummy!

Here’s what we got to grill…

Price for lunch buffet inclusive of drinks (sodas, juices, coffee) is Y1,000 but for dinner it’s a whopping Y3,000/pax!  I don’t have idea what Don.K! serves for dinner but don’t you think it’s expensive compared to their lunch?

There were pork, chicken and fish to grill too but beef slices were on top of our list.  However, I didn’t see any sushi or sashimi at Don.K!

One of the doctors got samples of what he thought as chicken skin; only to find out that it wasn’t;  it’s some part of intestine, probably the omentum or something (read : chicharong bulaklak?).

Grilling time!

No Coke for me us, remember?  So I settled with Minute Maid OJ ….

The beef slices after grilling were delicious!  So tender I almost thought a friend’s statement about cows in Japan are given frequent massage to somehow ‘tenderized’ their meat (?) is true…

Although there was a chocolate fondue, and my colleagues enjoyed those huge mallows dipped in tasteful choco fountain, I favored peaches and pineapples for dessert!

Sarap ng lunch namin but again, it made me miss you more.  Kain tayo buffet ulit pag-uwi ko. :D

I miss you both; I love you.

:D Tatay-doc.

24
Nov
09

SMOKELESS GRILL, SUSHI AND MORE!

Last week, everything was unplanned when my family and I had a glutton’s gastronomic adventure from breakfast at Starbucks Coffee and lunch at Filipino restaurant, KKK,  to ultimate dessert at  HAAGEN-DAZS and ending the day at YAKIMIX!  

My wife, Tina, our son, Gabby and I, all came with hungry tummies with my youngest brother, JC  for dinner to this buffet-and-grill-all-you-want-restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try for several weeks now.  Initially, we planned to try it months ago as we spotted Yakimix in their branch along Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City near those seaside-’dampa’ restos. But unexpectedly, after long hours of strolling in SM-Mall of Asia last week, finding difficulties in deciding where to chow down from so many choices, we’re just lucky to find Yakimix’s  posters at the entrances of the mall as one of its newest food places. 

We had to wait for few minutes when we came to Yakimix-SM-MOA before 5:30PM as it re-opens in the evening.  When we’re ushered in to our table, we saw this impressively spacious buffet place…

This was just one view taken from where we’re seated. Another section is available to accomodate, more or less 60 to 70 pax inside and few more tables are outside catering to those who prefer al fresco dining.  Believe it or not, before we get to taste our first choices from the spread, the place was packed in a heartbeat…

I know you’ll agree with me that whenever an oriental food place is full of chinky-eyed diners, then it verifies the taste of Japanese and Chinese foods it offers. :D   That was so apparent when we dined at Yakimix; the more we got excited to try all dishes at the buffet table.

I got this plate filled with raw seafoods and marinated meat for us to cook in our smokeless grill at our table…

Soon after the wait staff smeared oil on the grill and turned it on, our little ‘chef’, Gabby became too busy :P

Obviously, our son enjoyed cooking for us :D   Look at his ‘masterpiece’…

We’ve tried Shabu-shabu few times before and still enjoyed Yakimix for it’s purely grilling pleasure.  Everything was browned by Gabby to almost perfection :D

There were more seasoned cut meats and seafoods on the buffet spread; skewers which we failed to sampled; there’s always a next time. :D

It may not be the best Sukiyaki in town but it satisfied my craving for that sweet and salty Japanese soup. For me, UMU in DUSIT THANI, Makati City serves the best Sukiyaki.  My brother, JC had the other bowl of Hot and Sour soup which was also just OK.

I got few sushi and two slices of sashimi :D

On Tina’s ONLY plate :  ebi tempura, fried unbattered prawns, california maki, bacon-wrapped shrimps,  crab sticks, mushroom and veggies,  and according to her, the best among she tasted from Yakimix were those “seafood balls” .  I cannot agree because I failed to bite at them :(

On my plate : almost the same thing but I got to try the noodles.  There were more on the spread that we passed on simply because we’re so satiated already. And unlike what you might be thinking, we don’t have bottomless gastric pits, LOL.  :D    There were just so many dishes, but so little time! :D

There were salad bar, fresh tropical fruits and yes, cakes and pastries too, mostly from Red Ribbon and Goldilocks. :)

On our table :

Yakimix offers Selecta Ice Cream included in the buffet! Gabby went several times to the dessert table for these ice cream sprinkles…

Although I found Yakimix’s dishes plain and ordinary,  it gets our nod because of its wide-array of choices, better traffic of diners and spacious ambiance.  Our drinks were refilled at an instant even without asking, but nothing special for the commonly tasting instant juices and iced tea.  Far from the other blog reviews of Yakimix-Macapagal branch,  service at SM-MOA was quick and friendly exceeding my expectations.  :)   Yakimix’s buffet costs half as hotel buffet prices and can surely give Dad’s Saisaki Kamayan Ultimate Buffet a stiff competition.

Another reason to give Yakimix a try :  where else can you find an eat-all-you-want-Selecta Ice Drops ? LOL :P

We’ll visit their branch in Tomas Morato, Quezon City whenever possible because it’s closer to our place. :D

Have you been to Yakimix?  How’s your experience ?  :)

————————————-

YAKIMIX /Unit 122-126 Ground Floor SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City /

Yakimix Weekend Buffet rate : PhP 580 per pax; bottomless drinks at PhP 55.

PS : Gabby ate for free :D (children below 4 feet get to dine free of charge)




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