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Before you start wondering if yet another Japanese restaurant is what this city needs, stop right there. I’m telling you now that eating at Metro was unlike any other dining experience I’ve had before. This place is more than just a trendy Japanese restaurant with a hip atmosphere and fair prices for their tasty culinary selections; Metro has a distinct character that manifests itself in its product offerings and presentation. Metro comes from the same owners as beloved fast food place Tokyo Tokyo, but the similarities of both restaurants end with the best-selling red iced tea. If Tokyo-Tokyo offers sure-fire favorites that will satisfy the most conservative palettes, Metro takes Japanese dining up a notch with zany maki combinations, reworked crowd favorites, and never-before seen food preparation techniques.

Metro’s uniqueness is immediately apparent on the menu. Not only are your options presented in neat boxed styles with appetizing food photos; the menu is complemented by these little quips and fun trivia that will give you a deeper appreciation of what you’re about to eat. The presentation of the food was clearly well thought of, and later I would find out that one of my friends had a hand in developing the menu.

We were served the restaurant’s To Die For specialties – and I did nearly die and go to food heaven that evening. Dishes of mouthwatering morsels came in one after the other, beginning with the spicy salmon gunkan (P 195). On a large bed of Japanese rice wrapped in nori sits salmon chunks with some sort of sauce. From the looks alone, you won’t be able to tell that it’s spicy, but I was surprised by the sharp yet pleasant kick of flavor that greeted my tastebuds. I understood why the sushi had a lot of rice – you’re definitely going to need it to neutralize the spiciness.

One of Metro’s must-try dishes is the Wacky Maki (P140) – tempura with cream cheese covered in rice, which in turn is dotted by colorful rice pops. It looks like a dessert, but this maki is in no way sweet; it’s very creamy and filling, with just a hint of seafood.

Then came the main courses. Although Metro has a number of more traditionally Japanese dishes, like ramen and bento meals, their three best-selling meals are a fun mix of East and West. First up is the Metro Meltique Steak (P 450), which is prepared using a unique meting technique from Australia (I was told that Metro is the only restaurant in the Philippines that uses this approach). The meat is injected with canola oil in order to retain the natural juiciness of the meat fibers. While the steak is being grilled, the oil comes out to protect the moisture in the meat fibers. It was a little tough on the edges, but most of the steak really was as juicy and chewy as promised. And while the meat was good enough to eat on its own, it would have felt more complete if it was served with some sauce. The steak came with a side of potato wedges covered in nori batter, which I really enjoyed – but again, I think it needs some sort of dip. Apparently, the potato wedges comes in a wasabi flavor too, but we didn’t get to try it last night.

I don’t order pork at restaurants, but I would definitely eat the melt-in-your-mouth braised pork (P195) again. This don-buri dish features the softest pork slices I have ever had in my life; if I didn’t know any better, I could’ve sworn it was beef. The beef is served on top of rice, which I barely touched because I didn’t want to get too full to try the other dishes (although at this point, I was already starting to feel a little full from all the bottomless iced tea I was drinking).

It’s a little strange to see a burger in a Japanese restaurant, but I suppose that’s what makes Metro such an agreeable place. Say one of your dining companions was feeling up for Italian or a burger, but you refuse to eat anything but sushi tonight. Metro will definitely prevent messy quarrels from happening, especially when you see that the third best-selling main courses is part-Baconator part breakfast McMuffin with egg. The Colossal Metro Burger (P375) is has an intimidating 200g beef patty sandwiched by margarine-coated shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a sunny-side up egg. I only had several bites of this monster before I conceded to its humongousness and let someone with a bigger appetite (my boyfriend) take care of it.

One other thing you might enjoy about Metro is that the alcohol is cheap. A bottle of San Miguel Light, Cerveza Negra, or Pale Pilsen costs only P35, whereas a bottle of Ozeki Nama Sake costs P250. The reason why drinks are so cheap here is that Metro wants to provide their own spin of the izakaya experience. Izakaya is the Japanese version of the Pinoy inuman, but a little more uptight and formal. Unlike Pinoy inumans, where friends just randomly drag each other to the nearest watering hole for post-work drinks, izakaya is like a scheduled office event where the boss and employee gather together for traditional sake drinking. I was told that izakayas are mandatory and sometimes include a gift giving ceremony. At Metro, gifts aren’t mandatory and izakaya doesn’t have to be scheduled, but you can enjoy a round of sake and kushiyaki (Japanese pulutan) without breaking your wallet.

Aside from sake, we were served a kushiyaki sampler (P 250)- the Japanese version of the pulutan. Ideal for dining with friends, the kushiyaki sampler contains a little bit of what’s in the kushiyaki menu – beef with shiitake mushrooms, aspara bacon, uzura bacon (quail eggs wrapped in bacon), and I don’t remember what else. Unfortunately I was too full from the meal to try out everything on the sampler.

One of our dining companions came late and ordered a seared tuna salad (P 125), which she let everyone at the table try. Even though I only had a little bit of it, this dish was the one I liked best. I’m by no means a sashimi person, but I loved the crisp and crunchy sesame-seed edges, the subtle smoky flavor, and the soft chewy texture of the meat.

I capped off my meal with a cup of Metro Coffee Blend (P 55) served with their signature swirl and two pieces of Pocky (Japanese chocolate-dipped bread sticks), but I ended up staying long after my coffee got cold. As I mentioned earlier, I ran into my friend Shark who is part of the team that helped re-conceptualize the restaurant. Metro has been around since April of this year, but it wasn’t any different from Tokyo Tokyo when it first opened. As you can see, not only does Metro have very little in common with Tokyo Tokyo; it has a lot of fun food offerings you don’t see at other Japanese restaurants. I had a really great time eating at Metro last night, and I’m definitely looking forward to coming back and trying out the dishes that weren’t served (got my eye on the clams in miso soup, spicy seafood ramen, and the banana toffee cake).

Metro is located at Glorietta 5, Valero St. SM North EDSA Annex, SM Fairview Annex, and DAO1 (Salcedo St).

Tags: japanese food