Thursday, March 29, 2007

CARLOS RECOMMENDS!

I THINK I'M TURNING JAPANESE I REALLY THINK SO...
I don't know why I love this restaurant but I do. Perhaps it's because of it's location. Situated right next to Malate Church in the charming Ma. Daniel Building, it's the closest decent place to eat next to the The Living Room besides Chowking and Aristocrat. Owned and operated by Nagoya native Yoshio Kaneko and his Filipina wife, Catherine Chancoco, Ebisu finds me eating in there at least twice a week.

Is the wild carmine orange color scheme and the garden atrium view (above) that attracts me? Or is it the free fruit salad/jelly dessert and the cold towels that I receive before and AFTER the meal that keeps bringing me back? Then again, it could be the tropical rainforest themed bathroom that I like or maybe it could be the food. Truth be told, I'm not sure if the cuisine is authentic but it certainly is different from other Japanese places that I have tried in the past and that's what I enjoy most about the place. Ebisu is the only Japanese restaurant that I've been which serves tempura with the shrimp head still on, that has dinner service pushcart OTSUMAME (or Japanese dimsum as I like to call it), and that serves chunky shaven wasabi (the kind that burns your nose worse than microwaved Colombian cocaine and not the weak electric green pasty stuff we usually get). I also noticed FUGU (raw Blowfish) on the menu. I yet have to try it. So come on downtown, and overlook the cheezy vinyl signage that says "JAPINO FOOD. MURA (CHEAP). MASARAP (DELICIOUS)" and tell me if I have good reason for eating there so often.

EBISU
Ma. Daniel Building
470 San Andres St.
corner MH del Pilar St.
Malate, Manila
Phone: 5218714