Sakura: Hole-in-the-Wall Japanese Resto and Grocery

To those people who are always in Glorietta, do you notice these line of small restaurants/cafe's on the 2nd floor just past Italianni's?

This restaurant my Mom and I tried one random Sunday evening is sort of hole-in-the-wall, and not as popular as the big named Japanese restaurants out there. Sakura Japanese Restaurant and Grocery is a restaurant you pass by when you come from Nike or Italianni's going to be SM. It's just small, and fades away against the flurry of colorful cloths being sold at the cloths store beside it.

It all started out when Mom (who has been craving for Miso soup at home since forever) saw their huge display of Japanese goodies. At first I was no interested but when I saw that elusive AUTHENTIC JAPANESE MAYONNAISE (I've been craving for since forever), it got me SOLD! Mom bought 2 packs of Miso soup and a pack of seaweed. The Japanese Mayo was mine for the taking!

They also sold other authentic Japanese stuff like teriyaki sauce, seasonings, and even noodles. They're all in Japanese, so just ask the really helpful waiters for the stuff you need and they'll bring it to you!


But it's so nice to look at the display. They're so colorful, and with the Japanese characters, not only does it prove its authenticity it also looks like a scene out of a Japanese cartoon or something!

We left the store with our goodies, but Mom seemed dissatisfied just buying from the restaurant. Originally, we were supposed to eat at Gino's Eats and Beats that night. But she once again craved for Miso soup, and so right after Sunday Mass, we found ourselves back at Sakura for dinner.

Look at their cute menu!

We ordered our usual, tried and tested, go-to Japanese food. It's like it has become our standard to saying if the Japanese restaurant is good nor not. At the same time, we wished it was not a disaster like the unfortunate incident we had at Kitaro. That was still very much fresh in our minds!

I ordered the Ebi Tempura Udon. Which is a disappointment!

It had too much stuff in it that you couldn't understand what you were eating anymore. The soup was not good at all, I was deciding whether it was shoyu or miso based. But the tempura was okay, I guess the taste will remain the same wherever you go!

We shared the Maguro Sashimi.

Now, this was good! Perhaps the only good one we ordered. It was fresh and still had that sweet twang to it! We finished this within seconds!

Mom ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box. She ordered this because it had her favorite Miso Soup.

Mom didn't finish it because it wasn't really tasty. The chicken teriyaki looked like it was just re-heated. The salad was dry. But Mom enjoyed her second round of Maguro Sashimi! :)

To be honest this was kind of disappointing. If it weren't for their friendly servers, it would've been another disastrous Sunday evening meal! Seriously I am now kind of scared to try out new Japanese food haunts. It's almost always a serious flop, and I regret not putting my foot down on going all the way to Jupiter and eat at Gino's!

I'm really hoping that for those who get to read this, you get to have better luck than we do! Maybe you could recommend other dishes we should try in these restaurants so I could slowly change my mind about it! So hit me up! :D


Sakura Japanese Restaurant & Grocery
2/F Glorietta 4
Ayala Center
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. 728-2512

Do You Want To Be A Rockstar?

If the answer to that question is a resounding, reverberating YES, then I suggest you go eat at Heaven and Eggs.

It's not my first time to eat there, I remember about 2 years ago after having a super duper early morning Labor Day shoot with Arnold Clavio at the GMA studios, me, Jermaine, and Kuya Daki (that's Dakila Angeles for you), got so hungry. Since it was Labor Day, most of the restaurants near our Pasong Tamo Ext. office was closed, so we went to Glorietta where we knew we had a higher chance of getting something to eat. But since it was still too early, the mall was still closed.

But just when we thought everything was completely lost, amidst our hazy stares from food deprivation, we saw our oasis, HEAVEN AND EGGS. I remember eating good pancakes here, and really good brewed coffee.

When we ate there, it had this fairy-tale-ish set-up. It was so pretty, with it's light-colored interiors and swings for chairs, it looked really enticing. It seemed like when you ate there, you'd also feel good and feel like a kid all over again. Pictures of the old Heaven and Eggs resto were taken from Anton Diaz's Heaven and Eggs blog.


Fast forward to 2010, Heaven and Eggs isn't exactly the heavenly looking restaurant it used to be. It now has dark interiors, dark furniture, and pictures of past and present rockstars. They now show concerts of rock and roll artists. Gone are the light-colored interiors and swings.

This would be my Mother trying to comprehend the surroundings. I told her about this restaurant's old look.

I found this uber kaduper cool though. They used drum cymbals as ceiling decorations, it was so funky I just had to take a picture of it. It was like the ceiling centerpiece. Totally rockin' it!! :)

Food-wise, Heaven and Eggs didn't disappoint. Thankfully what Mom and I ordered was good, because it's a bit pricey. Mom loves meat that's stuck to the bone. She says it's really malasa, so she loved this ribs specialty. When I tasted it, it was good. The flavor would really explode in your mouth. I'm not much into sauce, for me it makes you feel full much faster. The heavy sauce in this ribs platter is not something I enjoyed.

This is what I had - Angus Beef Tapa. Unlike Mom's food which was dripping in sauce, this was a bit dry to my taste. Thankfully, the beef tapa was tender, easy to chew on and swallow. I loved the eggs, not too salty! Oh, and the garlic rice sorta sucked for me. It was literally GARLIC RICE, it had as much garlic, maybe even more, as it had rice grains. I had to keep separating the garlic so it was a bit of a hassle. Mom loved the garlic so she seemed to enjoy my segregation process.

It's a actually a good place to eat, although it's not something I'd really go back to. It's no LU or Tong Yang, but if you want to add a twist to your food, and perhaps have breakfast at 9pm, then Heaven and Eggs is right for you.

Look for Heaven and Eggs at Glorietta 4. When you come from Bread Talk and Krispy Kreme, go right outside and turn left immediately upon exiting. You wont' miss it, it's the dark void right beside the Bread Talk store. For inquiries or reservations, call 818-2792.

They also have another branch at Eastwood City Walk. Call them up at 912-1172.