First Bite: Fukurou Nihonryori

The third stop of our Zomato x ABS-CBN Marikina food crawl was supposed to be this well-loved ribs place but due to heavy rainfall, we had to make sudden changes and headed straight to the only Japanese restaurant on the list. And that’s Fukurou Nihonryori. 

Hello, Fukurou Nihonryori!

Almost everyone in the group was excited to this stop as the gloomy Saturday afternoon screams for some hot bowl of ramen. However, I was not so thrilled with this stop especially when M and R mentioned that this place serves below average dishes. But hey, they might have improved. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. 

We were only given 45 minutes to enjoy our food here as we were behind schedule. Good thing though that service was fast. 

First served were plates of Kani Salad (PHP128). Honestly, I though those were complimentary side dishes as I couldn’t even call it kani salad for I could count the number of thin kani strips with one hand. Taste-wise, I couldn’t even remember. 

Next served were bowls of Miso Ramen (PHP238). The noodles were said to be made from scratch in their kitchen but it looked and tasted like instant noodles. The noodles were not firm and in fact very soggy. It also had this not so pleasant starchy taste. 

And the broth was weird. It was spiced. I’ve had several bowls of miso ramen and it was my first time to sip one that had a hint of spice. Others even commented that it tasted a bit gingery. 

The California Maki (PHP148) was served after and it was just your usual mediocre California maki. The only thing I liked from this order was its generous serving size. 

Last served were plates of Salmon Sashimi (PHP185). And as a salmon lover, I drooled over it despite its bright orange color. 

Well, it was a decent plate of salmon sashimi and for PHP185, you really could not expect much from it. It wasn’t the melts in your mouth kind of salmon but it was good enough if you have sudden sashimi craving and stuck in Blue Wave Mall. 

I noticed while browsing the menu that Fukurou has a bunch of bento meals priced at PHP218-228. I guess that’s a pretty good deal with the assumption that the taste is average and serving size is big enough. But based on the food we had that day, I would not go back here for more.

Fukurou Nihonryori is located at Ground Floor, Blue Wave Mall, Sumulong Highway, Santo Niño, Marikina City.