In Cebu, Japanese resto chain expands operations

CEBU, Philippines - The recovery of Japanese arrivals in the country has prompted a Japanese restaurant chain to expand in Cebu.

Nonki Foods Cebu Incorporated, one of the most established Japanese restaurant brand in Cebu, owned and managed by Ligaya Arong-Machida, recently opened its sixth outlet at the JCentre Mall in Mandaue City, introducing another Japanese dining experience--the Teppanyaki, a style in Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. This concept allows interaction with the chef as he cooks the food in front of the customers.

For the past 10 years, the company already has six outlets, one in Davao and five in Cebu.

The other five Nonki restaurant, she said are taking the inspiration of the Japanese's Isakaya concept, a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. It is a casual place for after-work drinking.

In Cebu, there are four Isakaya Nonki restaurant concepts located at A.S. Fortuna, SM City Cebu, Mactan, and Banawa.

The opening of more direct flights from Cebu to Japan and vice-versa, with the earlier announcement of Philippine Airlines to launch the Cebu-Narita-Cebu route and soon a Japanese Hotel will open in Mandaue City, prompted Machida to invest on a new concept with the opening of bigger and high-end Japanese restaurant concept the Nonki Teppanyaki.

Machida said the company is planning to open more outlets soon but is not considering to open the brand for franchise to keep its quality.

"I decided to expand the chain because of the increasing Japanese arrivals to Cebu. We now have direct flights to Narita, Osaka and Nagoya,” she said.

Based on the latest record from the Department of Tourism, Japan is Cebu’s biggest market for foreign tourists next to Korea.

As of June this year, Cebu posted a total of 14,424 Japanese arrivals while the entire region recorded a total 14,895, a growth of 15.40 percent from 12,907 arrivals of Japanese nationals in the same period in 2013.

Japan is the country’s fourth major source of tourist market for the first half of the year with 220,366 arrivals. In terms of expenditures, the Japanese market spent P5.48 billion during their stay in the country.

Aside from the growing number of Japanese nationals visiting Cebu, Machida also observed the increasing interest from the local market.

“The market for Japanese restaurants has already evolved. This observation pushed me to venture into other Japanese dining concepts,” Machida said.

Surprisingly, she said the influx of Koreans to the Philippines has also made Japanese restaurants like Nonki to thrive, as “they [Koreans] are our second largest customers.” — (FREEMAN)