let's eat: sushi kappo kobikicho

seems like we've been chained to our desks the last couple weeks and haven't had the time to check out what's new in the malls, to catch up with what fashion people are up to, to blog hop and lurk... by the time we come up for air after drowning ourselves in work all day, the sun's gone down and it's time to go home... but not after treating ourselves to a good dinner (because the malls are closed by then, so no shopping! when oh when will retailers realize that some of us can only go shopping after 7pm??). we recently tried out this relatively new japanese restaurant in legazpi village and all we can say is don't come with an empty stomach—come with a full wallet! in other words, it's quite pricey and by the time you leave the restaurant parang gutom ka pa. let us walk you through it:

1. the facade looks very japanese: clean, simple, quiet, with bamboo and stone flanking the door. inside they have three private rooms, each one seating from six to 10 people. this one has a very modern design with furniture we imagine would look better in a condominium model unit. then there's the sushi bar, which can seat up to 10 people comfortably. we sat here.

2. the items on the menu don't come cheap and for this dinner, we ordered sushi and sashimi dishes. each plate cost about P700 each, and our bill came to nearly P4,000 pesos—and that's for two people! (including a beer each, poured into a chilled copper mug.) but everything was super fresh, beautifully presented, and mmm delicious.



3. this is shintaro, the young sushi chef who used to work in ben kay. he's pure japanese, but be careful—he speaks tagalog! he's very friendly and quite engaging, he'll recommend dishes according to your budget. but because he was standing so close and wouldn't leave, we felt he was eavesdropping on our conversation, even nodding his head every now then. er, don't you have vegetables to chop or something? the waitstaff was very attentive and we have to say, TOO attentive. as dessert comes first says, the "server [must] intuitively understand[s] the dance of serve and retreat that must be adjusted to each customer..." and these guys need more training when it comes to that. we were five customers that evening, and we EACH had a server hovering over us, eager to take plates and glasses away. it was not a relaxed atmosphere. it was almost like they wanted us to finish asap so they could... go home?

sushi kappo kobikicho, 150 legazpi st., legazpi village, makati city, tel (2) 752-1280