Suki-ya Restaurant sizzles in Fairview, QC

There's a new destination where you can find delicious shabu-shabu and sukiyaki! And yes! It's eat-all-you-want!

For the first time, food lovers in Manila sampled the delectable and healthy treats of the popular Suki-ya Restaurant during its soft opening at SM Fairview in Quezon City last Nov. 4, 2019. It will also open at Ayala Mall Manila Bay in Paranaque City.

Hours before the soft opening, diners lined up outside the resto to sample the wholesome treats. This is the same resto that has attracted food lovers in 19 Suki-ya branches in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Bonnie Wong, chief operating officer, CreativEateries, recalled how the food company tied up with the Cabalen Group of Companies.

"Ms Maritel O. Nievera (owner of Cabalen Restairant) saw one of our stores in Malaysia. Soon, we met in Singapore and we got along very well. So quickly in March I went to Manila and now we opened," said Wong during an interview at the restaurant's soft opening.

Wong revealed that Cabalen was not the first Filipino restaurant that approached Suki-ya for partnership. "Oh! A lot. I cannot reveal them."

"I think that we would work together. That's just the most important thing. And we felt very comfortable with Maritel. We feel it's a good partnership," Wong also said.

Hiroki Jose, Operations Manager, Global Brands, said: "It's a good partnership for the Cabalen. We want to diversify our portfolio."

The concept of Suki-ya, Wong said, is to simply give satisfaction to customers.

"We want them to come out of the restaurant happy. It's very affordable. We don't price too high. We serve quality fresh meat and vegetables. Some of our ingredients are imported. The quality of our soup and sauces will be something new for Manila food lovers," Wong also said.

Suki-ya is proud of its sauces. There are four dipping sauces which diners can choose from - egg, ponzu, spicy peanut, and the ultimate sauce.

For egg sauce, freshly beaten pasteurized egg gives the cooked meat a silky texture.

Ponzu is a citrus base sauce that it traditionally enjoyed with shabu-shabu.

Spicy peanut sauce is mildly spiced an extremely satisfying. It goes well with most ingredients.

The ultimate sauce is creating your own sauce. Just add some chopped chilies, garlic, spring onion, or grated radish to create a delectable dip.

And in case you don't know how to shabu-shabu, here's how to do it:

Step 1 - Once the soup is boiling, place the vegetables into the pot.

Step 2 - Cook the meat by swishing them into the soup.

Step 3 - Dip into egg/sauce of your choice. - (Robert Requintina)