[2018-09-21] Seeing ‘The Grove’ by Rockwell has shown me how much this area which is the vicinity where I used to work has changed. There are a number of places to eat here and Asakusa is one of them.

I was not able to take better photos of the inside because there were quite a number of people at that time and I just took photos above their heads to avoid having them in the frame.

Asakusa has introduced new menu items. One is the Prawn Cream Udon for php288 (udon noodles, nameko mushroom, prawn cream sauce, fish flakes & poached egg). The other is the Hokkaidon for php598 (crab meat cooked in crab fat, salmon sashimi, ebiko & sushi rice).

The prawn cream udon was creamy and tasty but would have been better with the udon to be still firm when bitten. If you like crab, and you like salmon sushi, then the Hokkaidon should be heaven in a bowl for you. I have never tasted a dish with cooked salmon which I prefer over  dishes with raw salmon. It makes me happy eating something new and delicious dishes with raw salmon.

Aside from the 2 new dishes, there were a lot of other items that we have tried. I had hot soba (I am somehow biased towards hot soba compared to cold) & tasted cold soba w/c tasted ok (same comment with the noodles, both hot & cold, better if al dente). I love both the tuna & salmon salad but I have a weakness for salmon so I would have to say I prefer the salmon variant.  Chicken Karaage teriyaki puts a twist on the usual chicken teriyaki dish. It used chicken balls instead of cut up chicken parts.

If tempura is your preference, I strongly recommend the emperor tempura set php638 (not in photo collage). It consists of 2 pcs tiger prawns, scallop, shiitake mushroom, kani, fish, zucchini & French beans.

I am a coffee person & not a desert person. I tasted two types of dessert, the coffee jelly & the valrhona chocolate brownies with green tea ice cream. Though both desserts were ok, the coffee jelly will be better for me with stronger coffee taste. The  green tea with brownies was a mixed bag for me. I liked it more when I ate the green tea ice cream with the less sweet and more like dark chocolate part of the brownie compared with eating it with the nougat like sweet portions of the brownie which is too sweet for my taste.

Having tasted a number of Asakusa menu items, I now know why there were quite a number of people eating there. If you like Japanese food, try it out for yourself 🙂