Success is sweet AT Teriyaki Boy

When Teriyaki Boy opened its first outlet at Madison Square along Ortigas Ave. in Greenhills in 2001, its owner was only interested in setting up a cozy Japanese restaurant that served the best authentic Japanese food in Metro Manila. Teriyaki Boy marketing manager Marnie C. Angeles says the owner was just content to share with the Greenhills community Japanese food as he experienced it in his frequent trips to Japan.

"That’s why he got the shock of his life, so to speak, when people started lining up for seats at our branch at Madison Square. He neither did any marketing, nor did he advertise about the restaurant. It was purely by word-of-mouth," Angeles adds. "There was no additional space, so he had to expand in less than a year’s time."

Teriyaki Boy turns two years old this August, and already it has three outlets, one at Madison Square, Greenhills, another along Tomas Morato Ave. in Quezon City, and the latest at Glorietta 2 in Makati City. It will be opening two more stores this year, while it is studying the feasibility of franchising its concept around the country.

One reason why Teriyaki Boy has found a niche in the market is because of its fast casual service.

"We want people to experience our restaurant as a cool and hip place where they can dine," says Angeles. "Most Filipinos think that if you’re going to dine at a Japanese restaurant, not only is it expensive, you also need to dress up. They don’t need to dress special to eat here."

While the restaurant isn’t a fast-food outlet, it serves all orders at fast-food speed. There’s a full waiter service to attend to the needs of guests. And instead of being dressed in kimonos, the waitstaff is dressed in casual uniforms that complement the store’s upbeat interiors.

The restaurant interior also does away with the traditional Orientalia associated with Japanese places. No low tables, no red curtains and no bamboo fixtures. Instead the interior is sleek, modern and well-lighted with contemporary fixtures that have a Japanese touch.

There’s a big plus for young diners. The animé mascot the restaurant adopted as its own gives the place a currency that is in tune with crazes, such as Slam Dunk, Bey Blades and Crush Gear. The animé mascot is featured prominently in the restaurant decor, and appears in almost everything in the restaurant.

And then there’s the food. The proof of the cooking is in the eating, and surprise, we were quite glad to have dropped by the Tomas Morato Teriyaki Boy place for lunch one afternoon.

While its strength lies in its teriyaki selection, the menu lists more than 100 items which will satisfy even the fussiest of diners. There are selections of furai (deep-fried and breaded meats), tempura, sushi, sashimi, donburi (rice toppings), teppan, soup and salad.

The kani salad is generous in its topping of shredded crab stick, while the miso soup is nutty and savory without being too cloying.

Of course, the restaurant’s piece de resistance is the Teriyaki Boy chicken. The chicken has been deboned and is char-grilled to tender perfection. It is topped with teriyaki sauce that is not annoyingly sweet but highlights the chicken’s flavor.

And the choice of teriyaki doesn’t end there: There’s yakitori (chicken barbecue), pork ribs, gyuniku (grilled beef), maguro (tuna), shake (Norwegian salmon), gindara (imported codfish) and unagi (broiled eel).

Angeles points out that the secret is in the sauce. It just might be one reason why people line up for Teriyaki Boy’s offerings.

"Our consultants worked on that sauce to improve it," she explains. "The traditional teriyaki sauce takes eight hours to cook and that’s how we do it. We can’t hurry it, or else it will lose its natural flavor and consistency."

And while they can’t hurry their sauce, Angeles says guests need only to wait anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to get a table should the restaurant be full. Since there is no dessert menu and coffee and tea aren’t served in the establishment, diners have no reason to linger.

"We don’t really want to go into the coffee shop business," she adds. "Besides, desserts are not our specialty. And it is only here in Quezon City that we serve ice cream, and just Arce mantecado-flavored ice cream at that."

Despite that, families continue to troop to the restaurant on weekends, while yuppies and popular celebrities often drop by for snack or meal, proof that at Teriyaki Boy success is really sweet.

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Teriyaki Boy has outlets at: Madison Square, Ortigas Ave., Greenhills, San Juan, with tel. nos. 722-5932 and 722-5931; at the second floor of Tomas Morato Plaza, Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City, with tel. nos. 926-7757 and 926-7759; and at Glorietta 2, Makati City, with tel. nos. 840-1047 to 59.