Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant: A Review

I seldom post a review on every restaurant I've been to. But lately, I find myself blogging about the delicious foods I've tasted to some nice restaurants I've eaten. Like this new Japanese Restaurant in the New Glorietta Mall, Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant. I think this is their second branch in the Philippines. The first one was in SM Mall of Asia.

When I heard about it last year, I wanted to try it out. Not because I am fond of Japanese foods but because of I wanted to try this restaurant brought to us by The Bistro Group here in the Philippines.  This is their first Japanese Restaurant.  I haven't tried all of the restaurants from Bistro Group but I know it will be worth it. Besides, I'd like to get myself their new Bistro Group Premier Card.

Finally, my sisters and I tried it out last week. We had an occasion to celebrate and it was my treat. So it is me who suggested this place. My other sister has already tried eating here and she told me that the foods are ok and the prices are quite cheap.

While we're still undecided on what to order, our server, Jopet, suggested that we have an appetizer first. He suggested the Watami Salad. My other sister, on the other hand, told us to order Green Soy Bean. She has the same soy bean cooked at her home by herself. The soy beans can be bought in S & R. And so, we ordered both appetizers.

Unfortunately, when the salad came, we all tasted it immediately that I wasn't able to take picture of it. Anyway, I never tasted such delicious japanese salad! Well, I only know of kani salad in japanese foods. The Watami Salad have chicken strips, shrimps, tuna mayonnaise as dressing, corn, some fruits, nori sheets, tomtoes and crunchy greens. The serving size was big enough good to be shared, although they also serve half size of this for single serve or for couples.  Cost is Php 350.

Green Soy Bean - Php 95

Another appetizer was the Green Soy Bean. At first glance, it may seem like Baguio Beans only a bit bigger. But be wary. The outer part is not edible. Since my sister cooks this at her home, she said that this bean is boiled until cooked. Then salt is sprinkled and tossed to make it tasty. The way to eat this is either peel off the outer greens or suck it to pop the bean out. It's better to suck it as you also get to taste its saltyness. The bean tastes like peanut only a bit softer but still crunchy. This is also a great healthy snack but may not be suitable to those with high uric.

Self Grilled Short Ribs - Php 295

Next on our menu was the Self Grilled Short Ribs.  In the menu, the meat looks big.  Well maybe because that was still raw.  It shrunk when cooked.  My sister opted for a medium rare meat.  I wonder how it was termed "self grilled" when it was not us who grilled it.  There's no grilling stove in our table.  Maybe in some, but I'm not really sure.  Anyway, the meat was tender and flavorful.  The bite size cut of the meat makes you want to eat more and more of this.  So this serving size is good for only 2 pax.

Pepper Beef Rice - Php 190

I ordered for the Pepper Beef Rice.  This is I think the cheapest main dish I saw from their menu.  It's not because of the price why I chose this, its because of the presence of the corn that invites me to try it.  The Pepper Beef Rice was served in a stone pot.  It has beef slices, rice and corn.  In my taste buds, it doesn't seem too "peppery" but my sister said it has too much pepper on it.  Well I guess my tolerance with pepper meals is quite high.  It is quite difficult to eat this meal thoroughly since it is served in a stone pot, the rice gets too hot and some burned so you have to mix it from time to time.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed my meal.

Assorted Salmon Sushi and Sashimi - Php 295

We also had Assorted Salmon Sushi and Sashimi.  Not a fan of raw foods and sashimi so sorry, I don't have anything to say about this :)  This dish contains 5 slices of Sashimi and 4 Sushi with 2 variants.  I like sushi but I wasn't able to try this.  My sisters and brother in law liked this so I guess it was a good dish too.

Stir Fried Udon with Seafood - Php 295

Lastly, my 2 sisters ordered for Stir Fried Udon with Seafood.  The serving size is quite small but is enough for single consumption.  The dish was flavorful.  The noodles was cooked just right.  Assorted seafoods were in this dish and a few meat/pork were included.

We also ordered for Assorted Tempura (Php 295) for take out for my father.  It contains 3 pieces of Tempura, eggplants, mushroom, fish and bell peppers.  I was able to taste it when I arrived home.  It was just so so, same tempura taste.  It doesn't seem delicious already as it already became soggy when I got home.  Maybe it was flavorful and enjoyable to eat when it was served hot.

The Bistro Group Premiere Card

Overall, the taste of all the dishes we ordered were flavorful.  I would love to go back here and try their other dishes from the menu.  And oh, by the way, I availed the Bistro Premier Card.  We were able to get 20% off from the total bill and they gave the Watami Salad for free.  For 5 adults and 1 kid, our total bill went only Php 1,800.  Not bad.

my sisters and nephew

By the way, I learned that it was National Siblings Day.  It's very timely that I had this sumptuous dinner with my sisters.  Only missing is my brother.  Well, my nephew (the boy on the right side), represents my brother although he was my sister's son.