tokyo cafe dinner

After the trip to the book fair, we all agreed to try out a restaurant that is not present in our province. We ended up at the nearby Tokyo Cafe, thinking that it's a good time as any to try out Japanese food. To our surprise, Tokyo Cafe is not our typical Japanese restaurant. There were no sushi rolls in sight! Instead, burgers, salads, and iced flavored coffees, among other Western viands, are on the menu.

We started off with the mango chicken salad, which caught my attention because I love the combination of ripe mangoes and chicken. The crunchy leafy vegetables gave a refreshing feel as we began to tuck into our dinner while the grapes added sweetness to the appetizer.

Mango chicken salad

After the salad, we dug into the main meal. What Japanese (or Filipino meal, for that matter) meal does not have rice, right? The difference between the rice we normally eat and the Japanese rice, according to my niece, was the appearance: the Japanese rice is round and shiny but the Filipino rice is more slender and not shiny. Because she's not used to eating different types of rice, she didn't like the Japanese rice too much. I, on the other hand, enjoy eating this type of rice because I don't eat this everyday. It is a good match to the meat dishes we got.

Japanese rice

Ah... Now something wrapped in a Japanese-styled container: the Kaibi Ju. It's a beef dish with rice and served with a side of vegetable salad. Out of the viands we ordered, this is the only one that is served like rice toppings. It even comes with a pair of chopsticks. I liked the texture of the meat and the flavor of the food but I'm not such a big fan of the egg. It gave a slimy feel to the dish... something that disconcerted me somewhat.

Kaibi Ju

While I was busily munching away on my beef dish, they started eating the pasta and the pork dish. The pork shoga yaki, that's what they got. It's served with a side salad, just like the kaibi ju. However, it does not come wrapped in the typical Japanese style and no chopsticks came with the viand. I found this dish on the salty side, perhaps because I was eating the sweeter beef dish.

Pork shoga yaki

All together, it was a good meal. What made our experience in Tokyo Cafe unique is learning that Japanese food is not just sushi roll, teriyaki, and ramen. The cuisine has moved forward with the times; in this case, it has embraced Western food, injecting just the right dose of Japanese influence in the meal.

The book trip doubled as a food trip.