Tomas Morato corner Scout Rallos
Quezon City
Ambience
We both liked how, upon entering the front door of Ariake, you are met with a serene fountain at the foot of stone winding steps, at the end of which the real front door is located. Behind it, upon stepping over the threshold, some one or two staff members are standing attentively to greet you, and when you enter the actual restaurant you instantly calm down because of the dim lighting and the exquisite attention to décor.
M was the one who noticed how the entrance to the toilets was remarkably Japanese, with just curtains hanging over the door. She was also the one who commented how wide the table was compared to the tables we were used to eating on, only I now realize that’s a commonality between Japanese restaurants – they give so much importance to private space. I absolutely love the dishes, and the wall hangings, and how intricate and deliberately offhanded everything seemed. The most complex piece of art they had on display, for example, was the mosaic in the hall to the bathroom. Imagine hanging such a beautiful piece in front of the toilets!!!
Of course, their music was perfectly chosen, as well. I think we even heard the theme song of Crying Out Love in the Center of the World, and some tunes by Hamasaki Ayumi.
Food
The funniest thing about Ariake, I think, is how despite its imposing and elegant setup a lot of the dishes there are very reasonably priced. The miso soup, for example, is only PhP40 – just a few pesos from the miso soup at Yoshinoya, and Mashitta at UPD. M ordered Beef Curry Rice, and I had Gyudon. I was so excited to discover their gyudon had (liquid) egg nestled between the beef strips! And M and I were both surprised at how large the servings were – or at least I was. Isn’t it a common misconception that posh restaurants present food in the tiniest servings imaginable to man?
We tasted the Beef Curry Rice together first, and M, who never comments explicitly on anything, instantly said it was excellent. AND IT SO WAS. I had my Gyudon right after, and with the first bite, I felt like crying. I’ll admit I like eating very much, and I don’t really care what I eat as long as it satiates me, but there have been only about five times in my life when I felt like crying over the unearthly, wonderful taste of the food. Eating my Gyudon caused one of those moments. It wasn’t even a sense of intense satisfaction caused by reprieve from hunger, because I had a heavy lunch, and consequently was not very hungry. The food was just that epic.
Budget
To be able to eat most of the rice dishes at Ariake, bring at least PhP300. That’s probably just one dish, but it’s not just any other dish, it’s an EPIC dish. So it’s very, undeniably worth it.
Service
The staff people were so nice! I think they were trained to behave in the Japanese fashion of restaurant management, so they tried to be as formally polite as possible without being too stiff for Filipino preferences. When we first came in and when we left, everyone we passed by greeted us sincerely. And to think we were two ordinary-looking college students, obviously didn’t have much purchasing power.
Our glasses never ran out of water, too. That impressed me very, very much.
Recommended for
Make-or-break-it transactions and life-changing meetings. Given it’s just a large, quiet room full of many tables, if you talk too loudly it’s going to be very annoying for the other guests. This probably isn’t the best place for a boisterous dinner. For something like a date where one wants to make a casual but dignified impression, however, this is an excellent choice. But then I’m a Japanophile, so I’m not sure I’m being very objective here.
Website
Ariake Japanese Cuisine on Facebook
Photo Credits
Ariake Japanese Cuisine on Facebook
1 comments:
Oooh... nice writeup. Now, I'm really curious.
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