Tajimaya Sumibi Yakiniku is an unassuming Japanese restaurant tucked away at the ground floor of One Rockwell West Tower. It's location makes it very easy to miss, especially since it's doesn't get as much foot traffic compared to the restaurants located inside Power Plant Mall. If you're looking for premium Japanese experience, however, such as melt-in-your-mouth grilled strips of Wagyu and fresh Japanese Salmon Sashimi then there's no way you should miss dining at Tajimaya.
I had the opportunity to try out a number of Tajimaya's signature dishes and here are some favorites that will surely appease your palate.
Tajimaya itself has beautiful walled interiors that's perfect for private dinners. The dim lighting makes for an intimate atmosphere, one where you feel like you have the restaurant all to yourself so you can just focus on having great conversation with your companions.
The Tomato Sarada (Php 220) is a fresh tomato salad with some greens flavored with sesame dressing in the middle. It reminds me of the unlimited cabbage you'd get from Yabu loaded with sesame dressing.
Having bits of that cabbage, mayonnaise, and a slice of tomato makes for a healthy, delicious way to start your meal. The combination of flavors were just superb!
The Tajimaya Tamagoyaki (Php 340) is a Japanese-style fried omelette with wagyu beef in the middle. It was delicious and it's a really great way to get your tastebuds going. The wagyu beef in the middle really complements the sweet and salty flavor of the egg, giving a really complex combination of flavors in each bite.
The Salmon Sashimi (Php 750) from Tajimaya is the best Salmon Sashimi I've tried in my life. It was firm, flavorful, and doesn't have the 'malansa' taste you would get from some low-quality raw fish. The main thing that surprised me was how flavorful and firm the salmon was. I mean, isn't it also from salmon? What have the other restaurants been doing?
This dish didn't disappoint at all, and I'm still thinking about that wonderful texture and flavor. The salmon that they use is also shipped all the way from Japan, so you're quite sure that it's authentic Japanese salmon.
The Wagyu Set C (Php 6,800) consists of a wagyu platter of wagyu serloin, wagyu tokujou karubi, wagyu jou karubi, wagyu karubi, and sancyu. Look at the beautiful marbling on those strips of meat! We let the trained hands of the servers cook all the pieces for us and I particularly loved how the flavor intensifies as you go through each cut, where each strip of wagyu beef tastes more heavenly than the last one. Each piece of wagyu is the definition of melt-in-your-mouth. I know that term is normally used to describe desserts, but these were that good!
This set is good enough for 4 people to enjoy. Now, if only I had enough money to enjoy a set all to myself I really would go for it. All of Tajimaya's wagyu beef is shipped from Japan so you're sure that it's really authentic wagyu beef.
Important Tip: Please let the trained hands of the servers cook the pieces of wagyu for you, don't insist to cook it yourself. The charcoal grill is sizzling hot and there's a good chance you'll burn these gorgeous strips of premium wagyu if you don't know what you're doing! Sit back and let them do the work!
All the strips of wagyu are cooked over a sizzling hot charcoal grill. This allows each piece of meat to cook quickly without searing the meat over a hot surface similar to what you'd see in other restaurants (particularly buffets) that would make it quite easy to burn the meat. It also helps add another depth of flavor as the charcoal imparts a smokey flavor to the meat.
This Tiramisu Mochi Ice Cream (Php 130) was really good and was one of the best pieces of mochi I have ever tried. It's not similar to what you'd get in the supermarket that seem a bit overpriced. I love the thin coating and the subtle coffee flavored ice cream in the center.
The Tiramisu Mochi is definitely a dessert you should try and I won't hesitate ordering one again.
The best way to end the night is to enjoy a bottle of The Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky, one of the best in the world with tasting notes of dried berries with a light oak, white peach, and subtle spice finish.
Food Quality: 5.0
Service Quality: -
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall Quality: 5.0
Tajimaya is the perfect place to enjoy delicious charcoal grilled dinner, whether it's a simple pork cut or their melt-in-your-mouth wagyu strips. I can't wait to be back to enjoy the food again. It may be a bit expensive, but the food is worth every peso.
Further reading you might like:
- Wildflour Cafe + Bakery: Where Brunch Meets Perfect
- Let C' Italian Dining Woo You With Romance, Elegance, and Authentic Italian
- Kuppa Roastery and Cafe: Good Food and Coffee as It Should Be
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Cheers,
Chef Jay
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored review. The author did not pay for any of the dishes mentioned in this article. This, however, does not impair the unbiased opinion of the reviewer.
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