Licensed to grill

How long would you wait in line for good food?

Certain restaurants or fast-food chains are pretty much guaranteed to have a line, especially during lunch breaks or weekends. But on special occasions like Father’s Day, expect the worst.

Passionate foodies — with their dads in tow — made a beeline for Sambo Kojin, the grill-all-you-can, eat-all-you-can restaurant chain on West Ave., QC, as early as 10 a.m. last Sunday.

In fact, the number of people queued up outside was more than those actually noshing on bite-sized meat items and veggies grilled right on their table.

“Don’t worry, the food is really good,” I overheard one of the wait staff say to waiting diners, clearly reading the hunger pangs on every face.

Real good, but is it worth-an-hour real good? Thank goodness I already made a reservation so my family and I were spared.

Inside, the aroma of grilled meat and seafood items wafted in the air, which whetted our taste buds even more.

At Sambo Kojin, the tables and seats are well-spaced, while the buffet table is filled with Japanese and Korean delights. Here, they never run out of tempura — unlike other buffet restos — because the chefs are always alert and refill the almost-empty dish right away.

Known for its authentic Japanese and Korean offerings, Sambo Kojin features premium yakiniku menu items ready for grilling: beef, ox tongue, pork bulgogi, pork salt and pepper, chicken, salmon, mahi-mahi, ika (squid), prawns and shrimps, kani (crabstick); and bacon, fish cake, quail egg, enoki and shiitake rolls. The plates are located under every table, so when you see something you like, you can just grab a clean plate underneath and fill it to your heart’s delight. Grilling the meat and seafood items is the best part of the yakiniku dining experience.

At Sambo Kojin, the grill is built-in on the table. Ask the help of the wait staff to get the grill ready. The server will give you a small bowl of lumped fat to oil the grill. Once the grill is heated, toss in your choice of meat and indulge with gusto. And boy, the waiter was right. The food is superb and the dessert selection’s grand!

While most of us were enjoying the food, there was this tall man (in an all-black ensemble) standing right beside the dessert station. But instead of piling goodies on a plate, he seemed most content watching others enjoy the endless spread of dishes laid out before them; and beamed with pride at what his own children had accomplished.

The man I’m referring to is none other than Vicvic Villavicencio, the famous restaurateur who pioneered and reinvented the Filipino buffet in his restaurants Kamayan, Dads, Saisaki and Something Fishy; the same guy who inspired his son Bokie Villavicencio to make a name for himself with his own resto concept.

Sealed With A Grill

Yakiniku is a method of grilling marinated strips of meat and bite-sized seafood on a hot grill on the table. It gives you the freedom to cook your food just the way you like it. It’s a fun way of eating, especially for the whole barkada and families since even the kids can grill their own food.

 “We love barbecue. In fact, we had barbecue in the house all the time even when my siblings and I were still kids,” recalled Bokie, who grew up in a foodie family. “We also like Japanese and Korean dishes.”

His dad Vicvic is no fastidious eater. He will dine anywhere, from a fancy restaurant abroad to a hole-in-the-wall. According to Bokie, it was his dad Vicvic who inspired him to put up Sambo Kojin, a Japanese-Korean yakiniku eat-all-you-can restaurant.

“I want this kind of dining experience available for all,” he added. “For Sambo Kojin, we chose to focus on dishes that we ourselves patronize.”

Named after the Japanese god of the kitchen, Sambo Kojin is a place where Japanese and Korean cuisines come together. Here, diners can feast on traditional Japanese dishes such as sushi, sashimi, tempura and kamameshi rice, and Korean fare like chapchae, beef stew, tofu steak and kimchi. They’ve just added bibimbap to the menu. To make sure their offerings are the real deal, Bokie even hired Japanese and Korean chefs to whip up the dishes.

Sambo Kojin takes pride in its smokeless grill. There are no exhausts hanging over the grill, like the ones you normally see in most Korean restaurants.

“This new technology allows office workers to have a hearty lunch without going back to their desks smelling like they’ve been from the kitchen,” enthused Bokie.

Sambo Kojin is also the first yakiniku grill-all-you-can haven to utilize chillers, which are conveniently organized according to food category: sushi, sashimi, vegetables, meat and seafood.

“Diners can now select their food choices straight from the chillers, which automatically adjust to room temperature — a welcome innovation for discerning food lovers who put a high premium on quality and freshness,” he noted.

According to Bokie, his dad Vicvic never forced them to get into the food business.

“I guess we just share the same passion for good food and quality service. One of the many things my dad told me is to never compromise on the quality of the food, and that customers are king. Cooking is an art, but running a restaurant is a science. I hope that with the success Sambo Kojin is enjoying right now, I’ve made my dad proud,” Bokie shared. His siblings are involved in the family business, too. Twins Cara V. Espinosa and Mara Villavicencio are in charge of the day-to-day operations of Kamayan, Dad’s and Saisaki; Veejay Villavicencio runs Matsuri; while Pia Villavicencio heads all admin concerns for Firstfoods Food Services Inc.

From the kitchen god to your table, Sambo Kojin creates a dining experience for the whole family to be relished, repeated and remembered.

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Sambo Kojin has branches at Eastwood Citywalk, 421-1045; 207 EDSA, Greenhills, 726-4466; and West Ave., QC, 372-8846.