Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tonchaya Japanese Restaurant at the Fort Strip

Irassyaimase! (irrashaimashe?) is the Japanese word for "welcome" and is globally used to welcome customers into Japanese restaurants.  Naturally we were not surprised by the still sleepy waiters and waitresses jumping up and screaming "Irassyaimase!", "Irassyaimase!" at us like parrots in a jungle.  We were in the Fort Strip on a Saturday evening and my girl decided to treat me to Japanese food and we saw Tonchaya for the first time and decided to give it a try.  We then made our way past the first table were management seemed to be accounting the day's tally to the inside section which had what looked like several Japanese dining.  There was an outdoor al fresco area where several members of today's youth were enjoying cigarettes and the P320 buckets of beer.  We sat ourselves right smack in the middle with our backs to the wine selection.

It is always a welcome sign to see nationals of the cuisine of the establishment you are dining in actually eating the food.  I don't remember what used to be in this spot but I hope Tonchaya lasts longer.  Scanning the menu for something healthy to eat after the recent excesses found us ordering the following:

8 kinds of Seafood, Chirashidon P395
Tonchya Special Okonomiyaki, P300
Sashimi Shake, P250


Okonomiyaki - pork, pancake batter, bonito flakes (dried fish flakes), fish bits and some squid.  This is the best Okonomiyaki in this side of Kagura of Little Tokyo which my gosh is a must go for any Japanese food afficionado.  The Chirashidon is a healthy mix of seafood on a bed of truly excellent lemon flavored Japanese rice.  The Sashimi Shake is well raw fish, not too much you can do there and it wasn't fresh enough for me to take notice.  For fresh seafood you should go to Izakaya Snowman in Polaris (link to short review I made before).  I saw the owners of Snowman carrying fish in coolers they heroically caught themselves, now that is fresh.

Now our Tonchaya experience was very positive on the whole.  Food took a bit long to come which is odd considering you are supposed to get fresh raw fish.  Again, the Okonomiyaki was phenomenal and did satisfy my craving for one of my favorite Japanese dishes.  In case you are wondering I love Katsudon, Shrimp Tempura and Okonomiyaki.

The funny part came after we paid and stood up to leave.  There was a hushed silence and no one even looked at us and then we unceremoniously left without a goodbye.

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1 comment:

  1. Hi, i've recently done a review on Tonchaya and I'm running a raffle for a P500 GC. Maybe you'd like to check it out and revisit Tonchaya. Here's the link: http://wp.me/p3jMnI-1GU. Thanks!

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