The family was supposed to try Tsukada Nojo a few weeks ago but they felt guilty that I was not with them so they opted to try something else instead. (Yes, I'm so grateful to have a sweet and thoughtful family...)  Just a few days later, my cousin group messaged us that our aunt is inviting us there for her birthday celebration.

I'm not sure about the boys but we ladies were quite intrigued.

It was a Tuesday night and the place was almost unoccupied for a table of two when we arrived.

Food

Bijin Nabe (750 php/portion) *Min of 2 person pero 1 portion

Aunt already ordered the Bijin Nabe for each table so this was already waiting for us.  


According to the menu "Bijin Nabe is a combination of the freshest vegetable, seafood, chicken cooked in their golden Jidori chicken stock".

This is the beautiful silky collagen that requires the chicken to be stewed for 8 hours until bones are dissolved.  And, yes this is the  beautifying component of our Bijin Nabe.  Upon being seated, our server turned on the stove and the collagen began to melt before us.

It didn't take long before it boiled.

While waiting, we were given a small glass of pure collagen and a piece of chicken each.  They also gave a set of their basic spices: Homemade Chili Oil, Leek Oil, Yuzu Pepper and Soy Sauce.

The server then added all the toppings to the broth and left it to us to consume it whenever we feel its ready.

As soon as the toppings began sinking, we figured we could already start devouring on the Bijin Nabe.


After finishing the big hot pot, we thought we were finished.  But, then our server comes back and asks us what noodle to we want.  We chose the Thick Mochi-mochi Noodle (80 php) which is cooked together with the prawns.  Like the first batch, we finished this clean because it's so good!  This is truly a heavenly experience for the taste buds and the body.

Smoked Salmon Spring Roll (210 php)

This is the first time we've encountered a fresh spring roll in a Japanese restaurant.  To our surprise, we loved the Smoked Salmon Spring Roll as compared to the Vietnamese versions we've tried.
 

Chicken Nanban Original (295 php)

The Chicken Nanban is deep fried and breaded chicken.  It actually reminded me of the chicken karaage but the menu state that the cooking style is from Miyazaki City.

♥ Shitake Tsukane Nanban Original (335 php)

The Shitake Tsukane Nanban is just like the Chicken Nanban but with a shitake mushroom on the bottom.  The serving also doesn't have sliced lettuce salad on the side.  This made us regret ordering the Chicken Nanban because between the two, this is better.

 

♥ Shitake Tsukane Nanban Spicy Hot (355 php)

I ordered the Shitake Tsukane Nanban Spicy Hot.  It was really spicy!  Good thing the boys raided this as soon as I took one cause I couldn't finish this on my own.  They really loved this!  In fact, they wanted more of it.  So if you're looking for spiciness, I challenge you with this!

Nikumaki Original (105 php) and ♥ Nikumaki Yuzu-Mayo (115 php)

Tsukada Nojo offers 4 kinds of Nikumaki.   I ordered the Nikumaki Original and Nikumaki Spicy but instead got the Nikumaki Yuzu-Mayo.

♥ Nikumaki Yuzu-Mayo (115 php)

It's okay that they gave the wrong order because I enjoyed the Nikumaki Yuzu-Mayo.  I don't even mind that it's extra rice.

For dessert, we had the Homemade Egg Pudding (150 php).  I personally prefer it to be without the caramelized top which was too sweet for me.  We also wanted to try the Yuzu Sorbet with Jello but it was not available.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
The entire family (all 20 plus of us) loved Tsukada Nojo Bijin Nabe.  We enjoyed everything we ordered.  Perhaps, our only concern is the service.  Considering that we were the only diners, there were times were no servers were on site.  My siblings who ordered Unlimited Tea was disappointed that they could not have it refilled as often as they wanted.

The family has never tried Japanese Shabu-shabu or hotpot ever.  So looking forward to try this whole new experience, we availed of the 50% off voucher for Ganso-Shabuway.  


Upon entry, little sister and I were quickly ushered to our reserved table and our orders were taken.  



Food

Choose Your Broth

Half & Half: Original Spicy Miso Broth Spicy (default) and Traditional Seaweed Broth

Soon, the hotpot with half and half was prepared.  We had half of the Traditional Seaweed Broth which is a basic seaweed and water broth and half the Original Spicy Miso Broth Spicy which appealed more to me because it was more flavorful.  The seaweed broth was so light that it hardly had any flavor.  Later on, I only found out from my mom that we should have cooked all our meat there to add flavor to the broth.  We didn't know that because we were not advised like they were.  My sister tried mixing the Traditional Seaweed Broth and Original Spicy Miso Broth Spicy which worked out for her. 

Shabuway Original Sets (Served w/ white rice and vegetable plate A)

Upgrade to Vegetable Deluxe Plate (375 php)

Minutes later, our Vegetable Deluxe Plate was served with two kinds of dipping sauces. 

♥Meyer Natural Angus Petite (525 php)

But, where's the meat, bowls and utensils?  Not knowing it would take so long, I already placed the vegetables on the pot.  After many many follow ups the Meyer Natural Angus Petite arrived so we placed that in the pot. 

Everything was starting to be cooked but our utensils and bowls seems to be taking too long.  After a few more follow ups, it finally arrived!  We had to get these condiments from the other table because we weren't provided one. 


Desserts

♥ Coco Lychee Ice Cream (100 php)

We loved the Coco Lychee Ice Cream which is essentially shaved ice with lychee and coconut bits in sweet lychee syrup.  It was a refreshing dessert.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
I don't think we'll dine at Ganso-Shabuway.  For one, the service is terrible. Second, they indiscriminately charged 20% service charge on the basis of using vouchers.  Third, the experience was nothing extra-ordinary.