Top Tier Tendon from Kiwami Japanese Food Hall

The first time I tried Kiwami, it was absolutely packed despite us arriving as early as 6pm on a Saturday evening. However, despite its busy early dinner crowd, our wait was just roughly 30 minutes to 40 minutes (it would have been even faster if we were willing to avail of their alfresco seating).For our second visit, we were able to secure a table with zero waiting time when we arrived a little before 11:30am for a Sunday lunch.

COMPLIMENTARY OKONOMIYAKI

Our first visit was auspicious as tables were being served with a generous serving of complimentary okonomiyaki and complimentary sausage skewers each as Kiwami was testing both dishes out. Both were stellar and tasty! For the okonomiyaki, it easily beats out Botejyu’s and Dohtonbori’s – as it doesn’t rely on the okonomiyaki sauce for flavor thanks to its extremely smoky bacon tossed in as a filling! I’d definitely pay for it! Unfortunately, these complimentary dishes quickly filled us up that we barely could finish the food we ordered!

PREMIUM TENDON SET (P775)

I had my eyes on the gloriously golden Premium Tendon Set for so long so it was a no brainer for me to order this dish for myself. Although, for other diners, choosing what to get may prove to be tricky as the Food Hall boasts of four restaurants which claim mastery over various facets of Japanese cuisine – Yabu (for its Katsu), Ippudo (for its Ramen), Hannosuke (for its Tendon/Tempura) and Hachibei (for its Yakitori). Personally, I do recommend you focusing on the offerings of Hannosuke and Hachibei as Yabu and Ippudo have already established its presence across several mall branches.

Unfortunately, I was simply too full to properly enjoy my tendon set. I barely ate half of it and had the rest taken home (but yes, I got the same order for my second visit as I wanted to experience the entirety of the bowl as fresh as it can get). A set comes with miso soup (Yabu’s signature miso soup which is consistently fragrant and flavorful), pickled cucumbers (which comes in handy to refresh your palete in between bites of its deep-fried feast-in-a-bowl) and an overflowing bowl of unagi, eel, squid and scallop kakiage, eggplant, sweet potato and nori atop a bowl of rice. Don’t worry, the bowl isn’t as deep as it looks – (nonetheless, you’d still be overly stuffed after)! Each piece comes clothed in a perfectly crisp batter coated with just the right amount of tempura glaze that’s not overly sweet. Break that onsen egg and mix in its glorious yoke into your rice! And yes, if ever you can’t finish it (like I did the first time)– it’s still killer good even when reheated at home with an oven toaster! Definitely, the best Tendon I’ve had in Manila!

YAKITORI PLATTER A (P640)

Another menu to look out for would be the wide selection of sticks from Hachibei. During my first visit, we shared the Yakitori Platter A which had Buta Bara Tare, Tomato Bacon Roll, Tsukene Tara, Tebasaki Chicken Wings Shio and Tori Momo Mentaiko; while the Yakitori Platter B (P850) was our choice during our second visit which came with Asparagus Pork Belly Roll Tare, Buta Bara Miso, Mozzarella Bacon Roll, Spinach Pork Belly Roll Shio, and Iidako Tare. Unfortunately, in both instances, we were all too stuffed to fully enjoy the glorious selections of skewers in front of us that we simply reheated them at home. Despite being a day old and reheated, all the skewers were still so good and tender– and fortunately, didn’t go dry! I guess to give it more justice, my next visit to Kiwami should focus on the Hachibei menu. If it's amazing at home, imagine how much better it would taste fresh off the grill!

HOKKAIDO SOFT SERVE IN CUP WITH LENGUA DE GATO (P160)

Another unfortunate victim of our stuffed (but happy stomachs) would be the Hokkaido Soft Serve. Its Hokkaido Soft Serve can be paired with a lengua de gato cone (it can be served in a cone or served in a cup with the cone as a topping) and boba pearls. I really couldn’t take another bite so I had to bring it home and simply freeze it. I ended up covering it with cling-wrap – which wasn’t really the best thing to do in hindsight as it wasn’t enough to protect the delicate creaminess of the soft serve from the other goods in our freezer. Same with the yakitori sticks earlier, another visit is warranted to judge it more fairly. One thing for sure, the lengua de gato cone was definitely a delight to devour!

Kiwami Japanese Food Hall

Lower Ground, C3, Bonifacio High Street Central, Taguig City

Dates of Visit: August 20, 2022 and March 26, 2023