Japanese Food Now Available at Fujinoya by Ichiriki Chaya

We’ve always loved going to Fujinoya. We mostly love going there to have some coffee, Japanese cakes and also to get some work done (check our list of 7 coffee shops around town to work in!) This month, we’re delighted to discover that they decided to add in some meals permanently to their menu to make the whole Japanese experience complete. They partnered with Ichiriki Chaya, already a well-established Japanese restaurant located in A.S. Fortuna and also found in the Japanese menu of the Cebu Country Club. The launch of the meals was done in a really creative and fun way: with an Onigiri making lesson! Onigiri is a very popular snack in Japan. This is like a rice ball that has savory fillings inside and wrapped in nori (seaweed). If you’ve been to Japan, you would know that these are found in every convenience store and is a very delicious snack that you can pick up on the go. It can even be a full meal in itself considering there’s rice and filling inside!

The Onigiri making lesson was conducted by Ichiriki Chaya’s owner, Ryoko Nagai and her daughter Riko. We not only got the chance to see how it’s made – but we actually got to make one ourselves! First we dipped our glove covered hands in water – this makes sure that the rice won’t stick. We then grabbed a handful of rice and sort of flattened it in our palm then put in some filling. There was tuna and mayo, salmon and some Japanese dried plums but you can actually get creative and put in whatever you want! We then rolled it in our hands and try to form a thick triangle, then wrapped it with nori. And voila! We had ourselves an Onigiri! Onigiris are available now on the menu for 90pesos per piece.

Other than Onigiri, there are also a lot of different things on the menu : a selection of appetizers like Kani salad, Gyoza, Ebi Tempura, Chicken Karaage and Eda Mame. There is also quite a big selection of noodles : Udon and Ramen and in many different flavors like Tempura, Curry, Shoyu and Tonkotsu. They have many of rice meals and bento boxes too. They serve Sushi and Sashimi as well and some Japanese snacks like the Yakisoba on bread. The even have sake and Japanese whiskey on the menu! There really is quite a lot of choices – you will definitely not go hungry and will be able to satisfy your Japanese cravings here!

Check them out now for all these delicious and affordable Japanese meals! Fujinoya is located at Wilson St., Lahug, Cebu City.