Teppanya Offers the Best Japanese Ingredients Right on Philippine Shores!
There’s no need to fly to Japan or wake up at the break of dawn to get ahead of the crowd at Tsujiki Market. Foodies in the Philippines only need to step a little bit off to the south of Metro Manila to sample some of the best Japanese ingredients at TEPPANYA. Located Evia Lifestyle Center along Daang-Hari road in Muntinlupa, it’s only a short drive away for our friends in Alabang, Las Pinas and some parts of Cavite.
I can’t emphasize enough how much the team at TEPPANYA has prioritized sourcing top quality ingredients. As seen in the photo above, the King Praws that were part of our premium set meal were each as large as my hand. This is the one place where reality beats expectation when it comes to the photos from the menu versus seeing the ingredients in real life.
The size of the imported scallops didn’t disappoint either. These were served with the roe on, and each piece was at least two inches in diameter. They cook and serve the scallops without trimming them here so it might not be a familiar sight to people who are used to seeing scallops with only the abductor muscle.
Apart from the amazing seafood, the meats at TEPPANYA are also top class. We were able to sample some Angus Prime rib eye and the pièce de résistance: A4 Wagyu Beef.
Let me give you a moment to look more closely at the beautiful marbling on that wagyu:
As the name suggests, Teppanya’s claim to fame is their teppan, a flat iron griddle which is where their meals are prepared right in front of the customers. This isn’t an unfamiliar concept to Filipinos, but Teppanya has upped the ante from many other Teppanyaki places in the country.
Apart from serving only the most premium ingredients, the chefs are also trained to put on a show. Think of it as a meal and entertainment in one. Let me walk you through the meal that we had:
We were served with the Premium Set (Php 9,995), which includes the following: A five course starter set (vegetable stir-fry, usuyaki beef, chahan, clam soup and bananas flambe), 400g Angus Prime Ribeye, 300g salmon fillet, 6 pcs. king prawns, 12 pcs. imported scallops and 6 pcs. ebi tempura.
Apart from the items that were included in our set meal, we kicked off our meal by sampling some sashimi. The shake or salmon sashimi is creamy and sliced generously, just the way I like it:
We also tried out their maguro or tuna sashimi, as well as hamachi:
I would have liked it if they had fatty tuna instead of the basic cuts. Other than that, the sashimi was fresh and a delicious way to start a Japanese meal. The restaurant also has a selection of makimono, aburi and nigiri sushi.
While the chef was firing up our vegetables on the teppan, we were served with clam soup. This is a welcome change from the usual miso. My only issue with it is that the clams were tiny. This is perhaps the only ingredient in this entire restaurant that could be improved. There was hardly any meat in the clams, but the broth had a light, savory profile that wasn’t fishy. A good palate cleanser.
The soup and the stir-fried mixed vegetables were part of the five-course starter set that came with our Premium Set Meal. These and the Japanese fried rice were the first items to hit our teppan. We also had some Japanese beef rolls called Usuyaki beef:
The vegetables were really nothing extraordinary. Neither was the rice, but these are really just accompaniments to the main stars of the meal.
Next to hit the teppan was the seafood. The king prawns were first. They were cooked on the griddle and doused in a savory soy-based sauce. Alongside the prawns, the salmon fillets were also being cooked.
I was disappointed by the cook on the salmon because it turned white like cream dory. It was clearly left on too long. Unfortunately, the same was true for the prawns. What a damn shame to see those beautiful large prawns go rubbery.
Despite our repeated attempts to say that it’s probably time to serve them, our chef left them on. It would probably be a good idea to tell your chef to watch the temperature of your seafood when you come here.
After the prawns and salmon, the scallops came next. Luckily, these were not overcooked. However, the one I got still had some grit in them. It also had a distinct taste of innards since the roe was not trimmed out. Perhaps a better cleaning of the scallops is needed since they are serving them with the roe still on.
After the seafood, it was time for my favorite part of the meal! My mouth was watering as I listened to the sizzle of the beef searing on the teppan!
There isn’t much to be faulted here. The meat is absolutely tender and melts in your mouth. It is seasoned lightly and served with salt and some garlic chips on the side so you have the option to season it as you please.
The only thing that can be said about the meat is that I wish there was more of it! Alas, it was time for dessert.
We had some flambeed bananas a la mode. While the flames were entertaining, they didn’t really hit the bananas so I wasn’t sure if that was just for show. It was a sweet ending to our meal and definitely a fiery one.
Overall, I am giving TEPPANYA 4/5 stars. Considering the overcooked seafood, it could easily have been lower. However, I took into consideration that this may not always be the case since my friends who have been here before had a more positive experience. I’m not sure if I should cut some slack or be tougher because the chef and all the staff knew that we were going to review the food.
I’m keeping it at 4 as a sign of respect to the premium ingredients that were served. I hope that on my next visit, the cook will be able to give them justice!
If you want to check out the full menu, visit their listing on Zomato: