Fill ‘er up!
In grade school, we learn that food is fuel for the body. And if it is high-octane choices that you are looking for, one place where you can get a seemingly endless array of delicious energy options is right smack in the middle of EDSA -- where not just one, but two buffet restaurants reside in one building! At the first level of the building is the newly-refurbished DADS /Kamayan / Saisaki restaurant, with its classic choices of lechon, roast beef, and sushi dishes. At the second level, there’s the smokin’ hot Yakiniku grill-all-you-can place called Sambo Kojin, where one can choose ready-to-grill items from the rows and rows of raw preparations.
All in la famille
How can these two coexist peacefully in one place, you may ask. Well, that is because they are both under the iconic Villavicencio umbrella of DADS, Kamayan, and Saisaki with Cara Villavicencio- Espinosa (yes, one of the twins, dah-lin’), while Sambo Kojin is run by youngest brother Bokie. “Sambo Kojin stemmed from the fact that we love to grill at home. But then, we all ended up smelling like food afterwards!” Cara laughs. Not to worry, though, the new technology of the smokeless grill makes sure that diners don’t end up being chased by dogs down the street.
“Bokie is the best person to handle the restaurant,” she shares, “since he loves to eat Yakiniku.” The first Sambo Kojin branch is located at Eastwood. “We decided to put the second one at EDSA for people in Makati who do not want to go through the hassles of traveling to Libis. At EDSA, you are only a U-turn away,” Bokie says.
The DADS/Kamayan/Saisaki makeover came out as Cara’s way of making the kitchens more interactive. Now, people can choose their favorite ‘D/K/S’ dishes from stations where they can actually see the chefs and staff prepare the food. “They were hidden in the kitchen before, and we see now that they are much happier being able to see our customers appreciate the good food that they have prepared. Customers can even actually watch how we cook dishes like the kare-kare, then they can try to prepare it at home, since they see everything that goes into it,” she says.
Premium fuel
Aside from the kare-kare, lechon, roast beef, and sushi, the downstairs restaurant DADS buffet offers a myriad of other D/K/S choices such as paella, ginataang pusit, Nagisa (steamed mahi-mahi with a creamy sauce and vegetable garnish), there’s a mean tuna pesto, and an appetizing swordfish in garlic butter.
This is also the place where diners can savor authentic puto bumbong and bibingka the whole year round. Upstairs, Sambo Kojin offers tender marbleized beef slices, bacon wrapped around kani/asparagus/potatoes, chicken liver, mushrooms, tuna and salmon slices among the items for grilling. All of these are paired with matching sauces to go with each type of dish, whether seafood, meat, and if customers like it sweet or spicy, or both. Sambo Kojin also has ready-to-eat foodstuff like a seafood gyoza, a flavorful yakisoba, sukiyaki, and a delicious kamameshi rice to go with the meal. Desserts are equally tempting, with ice cream, a chocolate fondue, a solid selection of cakes, and devilish chocolate bonbons.- Article Courtesy of Manila Bulletin
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