We love Japanese food (and I, particularly, ramen) and within the Kapitolyo area, we are big fans of Ramencool. We have also tried Cafe Juanita’s Haru. When we saw a newly opened Takeshi Japanese restaurant at Pioneer Center we decided to have our early dinner there.
Takashi opened just last June 8, 2014 in the freshly constructed building next to the Pioneer Supermarket. We were the only customers at the time and it looked like they had just turned on the air conditioning when we entered, so the place was initially warm.
You can tell that they were still figuring things out because they were conducting their inventory in the middle of the restaurant amidst tumblers of water bottles, plates and utensils. They don’t have much on their menu except their specialty which is ramen, and a few variants of sashimi and sushi.
Too bad they don’t have beef ramen. Service was rather prompt; we were offered gratis their house tea. We shared a bowl of spicy seafood ramen (P 250) and salmon sashimi (P 250 for 8 slices). We didn’t have to wait long for our food or check, although I did hear a followup call from the other customers who subsequently came in.
A Japanese guy, whom we assumed was the owner, was busily going about in the kitchen although he wasn’t in the usual kitchen garb like the rest of his employees. He was also on their poster, posing as a chef.
The background music was appropriate and actually put us in the mood – Japanese take on modern pop hits.
We could have ordered more if it were lunchtime but we generally don’t eat much for dinner. The seafood ramen was okay although the serving small compared to Ramencool’s. I appreciated that it wasn’t too spicy like Korean soup but then I really couldn’t taste anything else which was disappointing. The salmon looked fresh although I did feel that some parts of the fish were a little hard and chewy which was strange for fresh salmon but I didn’t mind it all too much. Their wasabe can use a little more heat though.
Will I return? The food is not good enough for me to go back to so I probably won’t since there are other Japanese restaurants around. Just right across the parking lot is Tok-yu, and they serve practically the same type of food although for a much cheaper price. Another one is also about to open just a few doors away and we might try that one out too.
