Marufuku Japanese Restaurant in Pasig

Back then I used to think that the only way to go is to surround yourself with lots of friends. The more the merrier, they say. However, as I grew older, I learned (in somewhat the hard way..) that quality still beats quantity anyday. Today, I have learned to let go of the rotten apples in my life and to keep the best ones close ones to my heart.

They say, the greatest friends you'll ever have in your life are those whom you've met in high school. I really think this saying is true. After all these friends chose to love you without any prior judgement on your status in life, the amount of money you have in your bank or who your family is. All they cared about is that you choose them as groupmate for the class project, you get to have lunch together and you're there for each other no matter what. I'm lucky that I found a number of great friends back in high school and even luckier that we're still very much in touch with one another at present.

A few months ago, one of my best friends C went home to Manila with her hubby J for a quick visit. It was perfect timing that Paul and I were still in town allowing us to still see C and J even for a short while. Of course, the entire group (a.k.a. the Four Musketeers) reunited for lunch at Marufuku Japanese Restaurant. What used to be a constant table for 4 in our school cafeteria became a fun table for 6 with our two husbands joining us. Someday, it'll be a table for 8 or even more when we're all married with kids! Yahoo!

Marufuku just opened back then thus I made it a point to check it out before I bid Manila goodbye. I love Japanese food so I was really excited to give this a try. Since they were still on soft opening, the menu was simpler and they had set meals to make it easier for us first timers. Paul got the Set Menu 2 (Php. 495) which consists of a plate of Chicken or Pork Teriyaki, Tonkatsu, Yakitori or Sunagimo, Salad, Miso Soup and a bowl of Japanese Rice. What a great deal, right? He was happy with his set meal most especially with the chicken teriyaki which he said was sweet and tender.


The only thing that was quite disappointing was the Yakitori stick which was a bit too dry. They should have brushed it with teriyaki sauce or something to make it look more appetizing, don't you think?

As for me, I went for the Set Menu 4 (Php. 350). It's the simpler set menu among the 4 but I knew I just had to get this as it consists of Yasai Itame (beansprout), 3 pcs of Pork Gyoza and...a bowl of Chahan (fried rice)! Now you know why I totally ignored the other set menus and went for this one. It had all of my favorite Japanese dishes!

Well, let's just say that I wish I took more time to go through the menu as I was quite disappointed with my meal. Save for the chahan which was a-okay, the yasai itame was too oily and the gyoza was breaking apart even after gently picking it up from the plate. I ended up having my chahan and some of Paul's Chicken Teriyaki as the serving of my set meal was too small for this hungry girl. What made it worst was I could smell T and E's delicious Wafu Steak Sirloin beside me. *sniffle* Lesson learned...lesson learned.

To make up for my sad set meal, Paul ordered the Kaki Motoyaki (Php. 240) which is a piece of plump oyster served on a chinese soup spoon, topped with cheese and torched to perfection. One order comes with two oysters which makes a perfect appetizer when you're on a date. Remember, oysters are natural aphrodisiacs! ;) This one was really good! Seriously, I wish I just ordered more Kaki Motoyaki and a bowl of Japanese Rice. I'm really glad we were able to try this as it gave an interesting twist to our ho-hum lunch meal.

Okay, I got to admit the food wasn't so bad but I guess I was really expecting more from Marufuku. I'm not giving up on it though, I will be back SOON.

Marufuku Japanese Restaurant is located at the G/F Crescent Building, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig. It's right behind Pearl Drive and Residencia 888 Condominium. For reservations and directions, call them at 570-3989.