My friends and I planned to meet halfway since we all come from different cities. Some of them live in Quezon City, some are from Pasay, and some are from Rizal. We arranged to meet at Podium Mall in Ortigas for lunch.
While waiting for the others to arrive, we went to DataBlitz. Kev, our gamer friend, bought the Pokemon Scarlet game after a few minutes of sales talk from our other friend.
When we were already complete, we asked each other which of the restaurants in Podium we should choose for lunch. We were all indecisive because we were okay with everything. We've been browsing for a restaurant in the directory for 10 minutes already, undecided and hungry. One of our friends suggested Yaku, the Japanese Grill & Restaurant near the directory. Since we couldn't pick any, we all opted to dine there.
For the appetizer, we got Nigiri - the assorted sushi (Php 329 or $5.90). It's funny that we only remembered to take a picture of it when we were already done eating.
After savoring the sushi, we ordered our meals. The three of us got Katsudon (Breaded pork with onions and eggs) for (Php 259 or $4.65 each).
Our other two companions ordered Gyudon (Beef with onions and raw egg).
Then, we decided to have Enoki Foilyaki - Winter mushroom in butter (Php 199 or $3.57). We finished the Enoki in about a minute! Next, we tried Negima, their grilled chicken with onion leaks (Php 129 or $2.32). I personally loved their Negima!
After having our main dishes, we opt to have some salad. We had their Spicy Tuna Salad (Mixed greens with tuna) for Php 219 or $3.93.
We were curious about the sake while eating the Spicy Tuna Salad. We were intrigued enough to order three House Sake (Php 179 or $3.21 each).
It tastes like typical gin in the Philippines, however, it's a little milder than Ginebra San Miguel's gin. When compared to other alcoholic beverages, sake is quite soothing. Two of our friends tried it and didn't like it. The rest of us finished the remaining sake. Oh, I wish I could have it again!
We intended to eat dessert in one of the ice cream shops after we finished the sake. We passed Meet Fresh while searching for Gelato shops.
Meet Fresh serves a variety of sweets such as milkteas, Taiwanese shaved ice (such as bingsu), and mochis. I had my heart set on the Caramel Pudding with Q mochi, but it was out of stock, so I went for the Almond Pudding with Q mochi, which did not disappoint.
The almond and boba Q mochis are really flavoursome! It went well with my Wintermelon Milk Tea. Perfect combination!
Have you ever dined at Yaku Grill and Restaurant?
How about at Meet Fresh?
📸 All images are mine unless otherwise stated.