Lunch at Yumemiya Japanese Cafe

I pass by Northeast Square along Connecticut St. in Greenhills everyday on my way to work. It’s been open for several months already but I’ve never eaten at any of the numerous restaurants in the building.

That’s why when my friend Tisay came to Manila for one of her quick trips I suggested Yumemiya Japanese Cafe for our lunch venue. It was also convenient for my other friends who had to pick up their kids from ICA and Xavier after.

Northeast Square

These are just some of the tenants of Northeast Square.

We weren’t able to try any of the yummy looking cakes.

They had a very limited menu with mostly Japanese style pizza, pasta, a couple of meat dishes and a few appetizers.

I really liked the simple but very flavorful sautéed mushrooms. It was light with a nice spicy kick.

sauté mushrooms with garlic & red pepper P148

The chikuwa made with fish surimi, starch and spices was quite interesting. Soft yet chewy and tasty.

broccoli & chikuwa in miso taste P148

Fried squid. How can you go wrong with that?

deep fried squid P178

I can’t believe my self control. I love pizza and pasta and could eat it everyday. It’s used to be my favorite food to order in a restaurant. Since I was in a no bad carbs diet I managed to curb all my white flour desires and didn’t try any of the delicious looking pizza and pasta my friends ordered.

My friends liked the pizzas for the thin and crispy crust.

chef pizza w/ mixed sausage, mushroom & tomato P248

The mushroom pizza looked really interesting with bonito flakes on top.

mushroom pizza Japanese style P268

I noticed that none of the pasta had heavy cream sauces and that’s a good thing. My friends said the spaghetti was perfectly al dente. The server told me the pasta was a Japanese brand.

spaghetti with mushroom Japanese style P248

Elisa raved about the strong umami taste of the cod’s roe mixed with Japanese pickles and a dash of wasabi. Out of all the pastas this was her favorite.

spaghetti with cod’s roe & Japanese pickles in cream sauce P278

spaghetti with salmon & clams peperoncino style P308

Initially I wanted to order the diced sirloin steak but it was served with french fries and broccoli. I asked if the I could have salad instead of the fries and broccoli. They said NO! Out of all the restaurants in Manila I’ve eaten at while on a diet this was the only restaurant that didn’t allow any substitutions.

I ordered the shabu shabu set instead. It came with thin slices of really lean beef, shiitake & golden mushrooms, tofu, cabbage and carrots. I gave my bowl of udon noodles away.

shabu shabu set P398

I dumped all the veggies in the stock pot and waited for the soup to boil again before dropping in a slice of beef. The beef wasn’t very tender because it had no marbling of fat but I didn’t mind that. The stock wasn’t very flavorful so I had to dip my beef and veggies in a lot of sesame sauce that was provided. Overall I thought it was ok but my other friends didn’t like it at all. They said I’ve gotten used to bland food. They were right.

Debbie came very late and almost all the food was gone so she ordered a bowl of udon.

udon

I really liked the siphon coffee made with Key coffee.

Yumemiya original coffee P109

green tea P119

We really don’t need any reason to get together. Just any simple reason and we quickly gather for another meal. That’s what friends are for.

Yumemiya Japanese Cafe (now closed)
47 Northeast Square Building, Connecticut Street,
Greenhills, San Juan City, 1503 Manila, Philippines
telephone: 722-4838


Hours:
Mon – Thu: 7:00 am – 11:00 pm
Fri – Sat: 7:00 am – 12:00 am
Sun: 7:00 am – 11:00 pm

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