Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant: Authentic Japanese Cuisine at Diamond Hotel Manila

Quintos Street, Manila, Philippines

Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant has long been on my wish list after hearing that it has garnered numerous awards so I've decided to scratch it off before the year ends.  Their dishes are prepared by Japanese master chef Junichi Sekiyama himself to guarantee the best food quality made from the freshest ingredients.  


yurakuen japanese restaurant

Upon entering, I passed by their Teppanyaki rooms, a beautiful bridge way with the sound of flowing water before I found the huge brass door paving way to a room encased in glass surrounded by the outdoor greens and with a huge cherry blossom tree on the center.  The room is the perfect interpretation of what Yurakuen or paradise is.


Food


Salad
chuka wakame salad
Chuka Wakame Salad
For appetizer we had the Chuka Wakame Salad which is a simple seaweed vegetable salad. 

Sashimi
tokujo sashimi moriawase
♥ Tokujo Sashimi Moriawase (1,500 php)
The Tokujo Sashimi Moriawase is a beautiful platter of assorted special sashimi: salmon (sake) , sea urchin (uni), mackarel (saba), lapu-lapu, young yellowtail (hamachi), tuna (maguro) and octopus (tako).  They are one of the freshest I've had.  The sashimi cut is superb that each piece almost melts in your mouth as its natural sea flavors woo your taste buds. 

Sushi
tokujo nigiri sushi moriawase
Tokujo Nigiri Sushi Moriawase (1,250 php)
The Tokujo Nigiri Sushi Moriawase is a special assorted nigiri sushi platter.  A nigiri sushi is an oblong shaped sushi with a wasabi in between the rice and the topping.  The ingredients are as fresh as their sashimi but this has more variety.  My personal favorite among the selection is the Unagi Nigiri Sushi. 

Temaki Sushi and Hoso Maki Sushi 
dragon maki
Koebi Tempura Maki (350 php/piece)
The Koebi Tempura Maki is a small shrimp tempura roll glazed with their special sauce.  It's interesting but overall impact is to allure me. 


california maki
California Maki (280 php/piece)
The California Maki is the most popular maki in the metro.  It a roe covered maki filled with crabmeat and vegetable.

Sumibiyaki (Charcoal Grilled Dish)
gindara teriyaki
♥ Gindara Teriyaki (470 php)
The Gindara Teriyaki is cooked perfectly moist and flaky just the way I loved it.  The teriyaki sauce is just mild so you can appreciate the delightful natural Gindara taste.  Everyone at the table adored this!
 
sanma shiyaki
Sanma Shiyaki (400 php)
The Sanma Shiyaki is salt grilled sanma which I always order in Japanese restaurants when available.  This is grilled just right making it it juicy and flavorful.


sake teriyaki
Sake Teriyaki (370 php)
The Sake Teriyaki is good.  But, if you order this with the Gindara Teriyaki, it does have a tendency of being overshadowed.

Tempura (Deep Fried Battered Dishes)
ebi tempura
Ebi Tempura (520 php)
An order of an Ebi Tempura is composed of four king-size prawns.  The prawns are soft and tasty but the batter is not the best I've tried.

Agemono (Fried Dishes)
tori karaage
♥ Tori Karaage (350 php)
The Tori Karaage is a crunchy fried chicken with tender juicy chicken meat.  You can see from the golden brown coating that it was cooked perfectly.

Wagyu Japanese Premium Beef
wagyu steak
♥ Wagyu Steak (120 g) (2,500 php)
The highlight of the meal is the Wagyu Steak served raw atop a large hot pebble.  It was pretty entertaining to see the raw wagyu steak get cooked.  This way, you can cook your wagyu according to your preferred cooking level.  Once was cooked medium, I got my piece while my companions preferred their portions cooked well done.


Light Meals

teppan tofu steak
Teppan Tofu Steak (410 php)
The Teppan Tofu Steak is are thin crusted-tofu with sauce topped with mushroom and carrots bits.  The texture of the tofu is excellent and the sauce is a great complement too.

gyoza
♥ Gyoza (350 php)
The Gyoza has a crisp shell which conceals its oozing flavorful pork meat juice.  This is definitely authentic and one of the best too.


Ramen
mixed seafood teppanyaki
Mixed Seafood Teppanyaki (520 php)
The Mixed Seafood Teppanyaki has shrimp, salmon, squid, egg, leeks, wakame, bean sprouts, pork miso broth and toasted sesame oil.  The bountiful ingredients and rich flavor of seafood and pork miso broth is surely to make you slurp this to the last drop.  However, I found the ramen noodles lacking in chewiness.



wagyu beef kalbi
Wagyu Beef Kalbi (480 php)
The Wagyu Beef Kalbi is an interesting offering.  I've never had a ramen with tender braised beef rolled us wagyu beef, baby bok choy,seaweed, onion leeks, fish cake, soft egg in special beef broth before.  This is a trully savory and meaty meal.  But, I honestly feel that wagyu is best enjoyed steak style to fully appreciate it.


spanky enriquez
Happy Birthday Spanky Enriquez!
The meal was even more special because it was Spanky Enriquez' birthday celebration.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant offers authentic Japanese cuisine with the best service and ambiance.  As expected from a typical hotel Japanese restaurant, it comes with a high price.  I want to go back and try their teppanyaki next time. 

Tip: Avail of their lunch sets for more savings


Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant Menu
Ambiance Lunch Set 1 | Lunch Set 2 | Lunch Set 3 |
Lunch Set 4 | Lunch Set 5 |
Full Course 1 | Full Course 2 |
Yurakuen Set | Hot Pot | Nabemono Hot Pot | Wagyu |
Appetizer | Sashimi | Nimono |
Sushi | Temaki | Hosomaki | Donburimono |
Menrui | Oshokuji Light Meals |
Agemono | Ramen | Sumibiyaki  |
Yakimono | Tempura | 
Taste
Service
Price
=Favorites or Recommended 
Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant
Business Address
Diamond Hotel, Roxas Blvd. cor Dr. J. Quintos St.
Malate, Manila, Metro Manila
Business Hours 11:00 am - 2 pm
6:00 pm -10 pm
Payment Options   Cash
Service Charge 10%
Budget/Person 400-3,000
Free WiFi Yes
Unlocked Foursquare Perks None
Contact (02) 528-3000 loc. 1127
Other  Website | Facebook Fan Page
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