That it’s hard to find good – and let’s qualify this, affordable – Japanese restaurants in Metro Manila is a given. Too often we get sanitized venues that may claim to offer “authentic Japanese cuisine”, but really just serve watery ramens or about-to-expire sushis or badly-prepared sashimis.
One weekend, a chance visit to Tanay in the province of Rizal led us to this supposedly highly-recommended Japanese restaurant called Tanto, and so we checked.
@outragemag Heard there's an okay #Japanese restaurant in #tanayrizal, so we #LGBT checked #Tanto ♬ original sound – Outrage Magazine
Una, the place is hard to access. No public transport was seen here; people dining in the venue had motorcycles or cars. Buti na lang there’s enough parking; that is, the entire highway is the parking space.
Ikalawa, the actual place is… so-so. The place is clean, at least, but there’s nothing special here – i.e. you just have wooden tables and wooden chairs a la karinderya.
Also, most restaurants in Tanay are open-air, allowing diners to view the mountain ranges. The view from Tanto, however, isn’t that pretty.
You may also encounter issues with some facilities – e.g. no water in the toilets, and no bidet in the male toilet.
Ikatlo, the personnel naman were okay. Some issues: the recommendations weren’t good (e.g. the food ordered), service was slow (e.g. chili powder had to be requested repeatedly), and so on.
Ika-apat, with the food, this place was a hit and miss. The tantanmen ramen (₱359) I ordered, for instance, was a big disappointment. It didn’t taste like tantanmen at all; just a tasteless noodle soup masquerading as tantanmen. The chili powder didn’t help since it wasn’t even spicy.
But at least the miso ramen (₱329) was okay, said Arthur. It DID taste like miso, even if we agreed that there wasn’t a lot of sabaw, soup, served.
Also, at least we agreed on the gyoza; those were better-than-okay. The wrapper didn’t disintegrate, and the well-seasoned meat was malasa, tasty, and not overcooked nor undercooked.
BTW: there’s no service water here; instead, we were told that what they have isn’t safe to drink so we may as well order bottled water (₱50). That’s profiteering for sure.
Gist: The prices here are higher than those in Little Tokyo in Makati City, so you’d actually expect more. But with so-so offering and so-so service, suggesting for people to intentionally go to it is hard. I’d say: check when you’re in the area… though when there, you may also just want to check the other restaurants there.
So off we go for more lafangan reviews…
Tanto Tastes of Asia is located along Marcos Highway, Sitio Malapapaya, Brgy. Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal. For more information, contact 09611434875.
