Fukujin Izakaya: Playful Experiments on Japanese Cuisine
Fukujin Izakaya does not hold back on its experimentation on Japanese cuisine; at times even pushing the boundaries to near-sacrilegious levels with how they play it up. To be fair, its menu is balanced with a range of traditional Japanese fare; but since it was my first time dining there, I decided to opt for relatively safe items with a unique flair to them.
LAND AND SEA MAKI (P400) and SMOKED HALIBUT TEMPURA (P500)
We started off with the elaborately plated Land and Sea Maki which stuffed rolls with sizable crunchy shrimp tempura pieces and topped these with thinly sliced beef; both of which were generously drizzled with teriyaki glaze. The combination actually tastes and works perfectly together; unfortunately the beef slices were overcooked; which made it a bit bothersome to eat through.
We followed this up with the Smoked Halibut Tempura. I actually loved its perfectly crisp and fluffy batter; delicately drizzled with whisky beurre blanc. Unfortunately, the plate comes at a high price tag; especially since the entrée is on the light side; but it definitely delivers on taste and quality.
UMAMI CHICKEN SOBA (P320)
The Umami Chicken Soba didn’t disappoint as its tasty creamy noodles were tossed in a dashi-infused cream sauce and topped with extremely juicy grilled chicken slices. Bonus point is that comes with a reasonable price tag!
FUKUJIN NORI ICE CREAM (P90) and COFFEE ICED JELLY (P120)
To end on a sweet note, we decided to order the interesting Fukujin Nori Ice Cream, and paired it with the more familiar Coffee Iced Jelly as a standby dessert (in case the Nori ice cream gets a bit too weird).
I actually ended up loving their homemade Fukujin Nori ice cream; it’s wonderfully creamy and surprisingly, nori works well as a dessert. Unfortunately, this subtle beauty was masked by an overflowing scoop of corn powder. Personally, I’m really not a fan of artificial corn flavoring, so this was a major turn-off for me. I ended up trying my best to salvage the ice cream by scraping off the powder. This might work better for fans of childhood junk food staples, Sweet Corn and Tomi.
Despite that fact though, it was the Coffee Iced Jelly which took the backseat between the two. Even if it was topped with some crushed toffee; the ratio of the ice cream scoop to the coffee jelly cubes was overwhelmingly high that it felt like we simply ordered a cup of mediocre Vanilla ice cream.
Fukujin Izakaya
2F TNA Building, 17 Abad Santos St., Little Baguio, San Juan
Date of Visit: November 10, 2018 with Lily Chua
