Sunday, January 15, 2012

Cebu City: Cook and Eat-All-You-Can at Wakamatsu Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant



Order, cook, and eat. This is what we always do when eating at Cebu's Wakamatsu Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant. It has been a couple of years since I have discovered this place, thanks to my Digicon friends who introduced me here. Since then, I always go back to this restaurant whenever I'm at Cebu City.

During my Cebu trip last November, I became the semi-tour guide of two friends who were first time visitors of the said province. Our flight was very early that day, so I thought maybe eating at a buffet restaurant would be a great idea to give us energy to last the whole day.

And so we did. Excited as we are, we were already there exactly 11:30AM, which is the time Wakamatsu Yakiniku opens for lunch. From the restaurant's name itself, we know that we're in for a Japanese style of grilling bite-sized meat and seafood over a flame of charcoals. Personally, I like restaurants with cook-your own food, because it gives a personal touch to the food that makes eating more worth it.

Upon entrance, we were asked to remove our footwear and be seated on an elevated wooden platform. We saw a lowered table with cushioned pillows surrounding it. We sat like it's just a normal table and chair, since our legs and feet had enough space to suspend it below the table. One by one, we saw thongs, aprons, and  chopsticks - our armor as we go into an eating battle.

I've always eaten at Wakamatsu Yakiniku on a lunch time. I suddenly asked myself why and thought about some reasons: (1) Food gets digested for the remaining parts of the day if buffet is eaten on a lunch time; (2) Rate is cheaper - about Php480 lunch rate as compared to Php540 dinner rate; (3) Fewer people, thus faster service; (4) It's coincidence. 

I'm not sure about Dinner, but they serve this menu (pictured above) during Lunch time. Basically, we can order anything from the menu as long as we make sure to finish them before we leave. Or else, the standard buffet rule follows -- we pay double.

We started out with the Short Ribs Soup (Karubi Soup). It's made of short ribs of beef slices and egg sans the bones. The taste was a bit spicy, but is absolutely delicious. In fact, my friend ordered two bowls, because she loved it that much! 

We then ordered one of their new offerings (those written in pen in the menu) - Mixed Sushi. It has about two pieces each of a variety of sushi. However, the sushi didn't seem to be fresh. It was okay, but not outstanding at all. Nevertheless, it was worth trying. 

Some of our favorites are the Marinated Chicken, Angus Beef (my favorite), Scallop with Butter (pictured above), and Pork Short Ribs. We weren't able to take pictures of the orders, but the quantity of each order varies on the item being ordered. For example, the Scallops is only 3-5 pieces per order, so we got 3 orders at a time.

The meat and seafood are already marinated and seasoned with basic spices. But there are sauces at the side of the table, which we used to mix and match to have our personalized dip. The sauces are universal, so dipping any of the grilled meat is alright.

There are also drinks available, such as Iced Tea (Php60), Green Tea (Php60), Oolong Tea (Php60), Mineral Water (Php40), and Calamansi Juice (Php60). We simply got the service water, since we'll already be eating lots of food.

Dining at Wakamatsu Yakiniku includes one round of dessert. There's a choice between Kakigori (pictured above) or Ice Cream Stick. We chose the former, obviously. Its description is "A Japanese dessert made of crushed ice flavored with Mango Syrup." It lived up to what was written! *laughs* It was just crushed ice mixed with those canned mango juices. But it's okay, since we were so full by then. 

As with other yakiniku restaurants, the orders might taste almost the same or similar to each other. However, it's up to you on how you'd cook it and season it with sauces.

We loved our Wakamatsu Yakiniku experience, because the food choices are delicious and the act of cooking is so much fun with friends! So much so that we were the last customers standing there. We entered 11:30 and exited 2:30. Talk about being "matakaw." Beat that!

Visit Wakamatsu Yakiniku when you're in Cebu and tell me how your experience goes. Of course, expect your face to be a bit oily, since the griller is just in front of you. Also, even if there's an exhaust sipping the smoke out of the griller, you'd still end up smelling like food.

Wakamatsu Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant
Address: 1-K Pacific Square Building, F. Cabahug St., Mabolo, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
Telephone Number: (032) 232-5897

Lunch Time: 11:30AM-2:30PM
Dinner Time: 5:30PM-10:30PM

Photo Credits: Annie Choi

10 comments:

Tnx for the very nice, informative post. I never tried Jap food ever since cos I am not keen much on fresh, raw foods but this post inspires me to try. Planning to invade Cebu in few months time and this is a big help. Will try this for sure and update you. Tnx anyway. Well done to you. 

Hope you'd like your experience here! :) 

Perfect timing, I'm heading to Cebu on Friday.  Thanks for sharing!!!

This is one reason to go to Cebu soon! hope to try this! :)

how much do we need to budget to get a decent meal? :)

Hi! Last time I visited, lunch is about Php480 and dinner is about Php540. Eat all you can.

I thought it’s a normal pillow and you have
to do Indian sit. What is that big pipe over the table? That Japanese
restaurant is awesome because there is a modern twist to their dining area. 

It's the exhaust fan the sucks the smoke from grill.

i gotta try this!! the joy of cooking your own food, FTW!

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