Okada Manila: Catch By The Bay Review
Star Rating: 2/5
I love Okada and it pains me to give such a low rating for this restaurant. I hope my comments can lead to some improvements.
Let me break down the issues I had:
Baked barbecue pork buns
Php258 – The filling tasted nice but one of the three buns we had was almost empty inside. The bread was nothing special at all. It was like a regular dinner roll. The bread was thick and bland even with the syrupy glaze. Compared to the baked buns at places like Tim Ho Wan and Tuan Tuan, this was almost twice the price but tasted half as good.
Mushroom and vegetable fried rice
Php328 – I love mushrooms so this was okay. However, the rice was a bit dry…kind of like a basmati texture versus what you would expect from a Chinese rice dish.
Braised garoupa fillet with garlic and ginger
Php 1,788 – This was so extremely salty! I had one bite and had to drink a full glass of water. Also, it was a pretty small portion for that price.
Steamed shrimp dumplings with bamboo shoots
Php388 – These looked great. The black wrapper and golden accents were beautiful. The taste was good but not extraordinary. At almost Php 100 a pop, it’s not great value. They are good but the ones at Dec’s are better. However, these were still the best items on our table.
Salt and Pepper Suahe
Php708 – Not much to complain about here. Fresh shrimps and good flavor.
Barbecue pork with honey
Php408 – These were a bit tough. The pork wasn’t tender and the flavors were really just ordinary. It was a generous serving though.
For a meal that was close to 5k, it was really underwhelming.
On the upside, service here is excellent and the ambience is top notch. Sadly, such opulent surroundings should really translate all the way to the plate. This time, they fell short. Hopefully my next visit here will be better.