Minami Saki by Astoria is a restaurant that offers modern and authentic Japanese cuisine by Chef Kimito Katagiri, formerly of Inagiku and Yanagi, a couple of Manila's hotel restaurants specializing in Japanese food. At Minami Saki, the longtime Manila-based Japanese chef serves his customers rice rolls that are gloriously photogenic–sushi that are as delicious as they are eye-catching.
While the restaurant still draws in the crowd seeking the traditional sashimi, sushi, and Japanese staples, the pull of more playful and flavor-loaded offerings is strong. California Maki lovers can still enjoy their favorite rolls, and for an extra filling sushi, get the Astoria Maki (P390) of mango, cucumber, and kani stick topped with salmon and flying fish roe.
Aburi is the most popular sushi at Minami Saki, and mostly because the chef uses a special aburi sauce to go along with the torched rolls of fresh seafood and rice. Get the Aburi Sushi (P530/3 kinds, P850/5 kinds) to try all kinds.
The special aburi sauce swathes different types of fish (hamachi, salmon, tuna, eel, lapu-lapu), before the sushi is torched ("aburi"), a technique to enhance flavors of the fish and the sauce for a smokey finish. Each sushi is also garnished with fly-fish roe and a tiny piece of fruit, making this a modern, ultra-colorful sushi treat. First-timers are suggested to try the sampler in threes or fives, and if you've found your favorite kind of aburi sushi, you can order them a la carte at two pieces per order.
Making even bigger, bolder statements is the Tempura Maki (P550), thick sushi rolls stuffed with prawn tempura, blanketed with the same aburi sauce and toppings as the Aburi Sushi.
These rolls are even more plump than the former, extra thick and tall that it needs bigger bites to finish one roll. It's already packed with many textures and flavors that the typical sushi dipping sauce of soy sauce does is not needed. Order this to share as it will fill you up quick!
Still packing on flavor punches and flaunting the chef's expertise on addictive sauces is the Kaki Papaya Yaki (P580), a dish I didn't know would even be possible to crave for until I discovered it. Three plump Japanese oysters rest on sweet papaya, then grilled and lightly brushed with miso. Adding to the succulence of this unusual combination of fruit and seafood is an aburi sauce by Chef Katagiri (I tried to pry out more information about the sauce's ingredients, but failed). The 'secret' sauce is creamy and sweet and plays well with the rich and briny flavors of the oysters.
It is then lightly torched before serving. Bursts of the salty sea from the oysters meet the sweet and fresh papaya meat, and melding these two is the aburi sauce that deliciously ties everything in together like an embellished ribbon–because this dish is a special gift for one's tastebuds.
From the succulence of oysters, we move on to the succulence of even more seafood with US Scallops with Tamago Sauce (P720). Plump scallops, bouncy and meaty, are pan-seared and then blanketed with a sweet egg yolk sauce and served with asparagus stalks for crunch and texture. Yet again another dish where the sauce crowns the seafood deliciously.
While seafood and sushi offerings are exceptional at Minami Saki, meatlovers are not left behind with the restaurant's carnivorous offerings. The mouthwatering aroma of freshly cooked Teppan-yaki of US Sirloin (P1,050) steak will immediately tell you, this beefy number needs a cup of rice. The chunks of beef fried with garlic and served chunks of its own fat and yasai itame (stir-fry vegetables) is stuff of comfort food, and its savory bite really does merit more spoonfuls of rice.
To end your meal with a more unique dessert, don't shy away from their Wasabi Crème Brûlée (P120). The name might repel dessert lovers who dislike wasabi, but give this type of spice a chance — it's not going to assault your senses as it's a rather balanced version of the vanilla custard.
Wasabi might not be everyone's cup of tea (or smidge of heat?), but it does work its way pleasantly in this dessert you can order at Minami Saki in Astoria Ortigas. This Wasabi Crème Brûlée gets just a tease and a tingle with the infusion of the green Japanese paste, taming the sweetness of what could have been a cloying kind of creamy, luscious dessert.
Visit Minami Saki by Astoria at the ground floor of Astoria Plaza, J. Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig. The restaurant is open daily for lunch (11:30 AM – 02:30 PM) and dinner (6:00pm – 10:30pm). Call (632) 687-1111 and follow Minami Saki on Facebook and Instagram (minamisakibyastoria).
