1st Course!

Hello! Welcome to Zensai! A blog about the simple things in life. Food (mostly), Movies, Living, Whatever, we'll take our pick. We bring you an assortment of things which we think would make your life a little bit more exciting! :)

Zensai is Japanese for Appetizer, as such, we hope this blog would be just that. This would be your zensai, your antipasti, your hors d'oeuvres, a pre-meal of what there is to come. We hope to bring you a satisfying and mouth-watering experience through our own words, pictures, tastes. So as to present you with something worth having in your life. I guess this is sort of our service. It's not fair if we experience the fine things in life and keep it to ourselves while other people are unaware. We promise if we ever run into a quaint little bookstore, a rustic yet delicious ihawan, or a warm romantic cafe, we'll be sure to notify you.

The Team:

The Photographer: Enrique Dimagiba

 The Critic: John Lenon

The Writer: RC Marcelo

Zensai started as a conversation among friends. Three friends were eating in a little restaurant in little Tokyo in big Makati city. It was a tiring yet fun-filled day that involved locations like Greenmeadows, Serendra, and Cinema Square. It was at about eight o'clock in the evening when we found ourselves in Little Toyko, a little, if it still wasn't painfully obvious, square located secretly in street in Makati. The square was composed of six different restaurants varying in levels of Japanese Authenticity. The most authentic being the bar and restaurant which was jam-packed with full-blooded Japanese businessmen being attended to by an old, also Japanese, man in a yukata and by waitresses in mini-kimonos. The least authentic would be a restaurant with random generic Japanese posters, it was also closed at that day. We chose the seemingly balance of the two, a modest restaurant, it had a bar, complete with bar stools and the cashier on one side of the building. the other side was flanked with three tables with sets of four chairs. A moldy white wallpaper would complete the whole plain-as-they-come style. It also had seats outside for customers wanting fresh air or a smoke while eating. The restaurant however had one noticeable thing that the others did not have, elevating its convention to a quirk, it was a takoyaki stand. We sat outside, breathing the steam from the takoyaki and craved for its somewhat enigmatic smell. We weren't sure what it was, though we knew we wanted it.

We ordered our respective meals, a gyudon, two unagi-ju's, onigiri, some maki, and of course the takoyaki. We dined right inside the square littered with dozens of paper lanterns and various christmas lights.

The setting accentuated the food. It gave a somewhat "natural" feel, it was as if other than Japan, this would be the closest thing we could get to the perfect spot for Japanese Food. Quite ironically, our entrees arrived earlier than our appetizers, the takoyaki still nowhere in sight. For most, the food was definitely not sub-par, yet it wasn't at all amazing, befitting of being the buffer of the most and least authentic restaurant. As I said, we felt this place to be just sublime yet the food didn't do any justice to it. Well...yet.

After waiting about 40 mins, there was this huge number of orders before us, we got our takoyaki. I swear, the takoyaki completed the picture-perfect setting of Little Tokyo that night. The takoyaki was soft yet firm in its texture, it break out or crumble, though a slight poke with the chopsticks could easily puncture it. The first bite was exquisite, the tangy teriyaki based sauce, more sour than sweet, pierced first into my taste buds. A second later, I can feel the breading rolling around my tongue. It was a different kind of taste, it wasn't like simple waffle or pancake mix you can buy out off any grocery store. The breading was precise in complimenting the sauce, it was as if it was made just for the takoyaki. After chewing more, I got into the center, a mixture of octupus tentacles and vegetables. It's weird having these ingredients but as I said all the ingredients were perfectly made for each other, quite surprisingly. The texture tickles the tongue, and I do confess playing around with it. Actually, I never saw the tentacle, though I can make it out with my tongue. After the first bite, I was raring to have more. The second bite, a voracious chomp, entirely gulping the rest of the takoyaki, burnt my tongue, obviously, it was less satisfying than the first one. With it, we proceeded to our second takoyaki with more caution, opening the takoyaki before eating it. The second takoyaki, danced around my mouth, pulling different sensation and tastes from my tongue. Suffice to say, I, We, were fully satisfied and completely happy.

We spent the rest of the night talking. We were commenting on how it was quite a find to discover this amazing little takoyaki shop, and more so the whole of Little Tokyo. We wanted to come back and try the other restaurants, and we didn't want to think of what would have happened if we didn't give it a chance in the first place. It was an enjoyable sensation to be able to find something well-hidden, and we couldn't wait to tell other people of our exploits. We wanted to share these with our friends but then we realized that may be a difficult thing to do. All three of us share the bane of being located in the south, quite far from most of our friends up in the north. There was no way our friends would spend the time and money to "try-out" something they weren't sure of. That was where we came up with the idea for this blog. A somewhat appetizer, to let our friends, and also you, know if things are worth taking the risk for. After all, the appetizer is the pre-cursor to the main dish, it helps decide if we're leaving to find another place or staying to eat another great dish.

I think it's sufficient to say that this blog is still under-cooked, I hope to use more food-based puns along the blog, yet we hope you stick around see what else we end up cooking for you. :) Kanpai!