Kitaro

Last week, I was searching for an inexpensive place to eat a late 2:30 pm lunch in the Ortigas area, when I came across Kitaro Japanese sushi place along Emerald Avenue.  I didn't have much cash on me, just P250, so I figured that this would be enough.  But as I brushed through the menu, my mouth watered with the pictures of the sashimi and the gyoza, and so I wound up with bill of almost P600 on my tab!  It was a good thing that I had my credit card with me, or else I would have been washing the dishes.

Although the place is designed to look like it uses "popular-pricing" strategy (smaller tables, iron chairs, plastic menu jackets, combo meals and party-size orders), the food is still priced like regular restaurants.  In fairness, quality is not bad; the sashimi was fresh and the gyoza was fairly stuffed with flavorful meat filling.  The special sashimi assortment included tuna, salmon, kani sticks, eel, sea urchin and shrimp.  Staff service was also good, but of course, I came in during off-hours and only one other table was taken.