Food on the move

IF YOU WERE AN MTV FANATIC LIKE ME, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER a crazy MTV promo ad shown about ten years ago of a Japanese chef behind a food counter laughing at a customer unable to grab a sushi dish from the rapidly moving conveyor before him. That was a neat idea, I thought; the moving buffet, that is.

I first chanced upon a restaurant with a real food conveyor in Bangkok a few years ago, and wasted no time bringing my friend Virginia to try this dining experience. She was amazed and ecstatic about the idea of picking food gliding by in front of her.

Perhaps the novelty of this food parade so tickled our appetites that when our moving buffet dinner ended, we had quite a pile of empty plates before us as evidence of the amount of sushi, sashimi, tempura and other Japanese delicacies we had consumed.

So when my friend Jacintha informed us that one such restaurant, named Sakae (pronounced sa-kah-eh) Sushi, had finally opened in Manila, we–my friends Jacintha, Virginia, Brigitte and I, all avowed Japanese food lovers–trooped to Crescent West Park at Fort Bonifacio to sample its fare of Japanese food.

The restaurant, which opened in mid-December, is tastefully decorated in contemporary style with pastel green, orange and brown as predominant colors. The moment you enter, your eyes are drawn to the moving buffet on the conveyor belt, called kaiten in Japanese, that cuts through the tables and food counter and forms the meandering spine of the restaurant. All kinds of carefully prepared sushi, sashimi, maki and Japanese juices parade before your hungry eyes ready to be picked.

Why do all the sushi pieces look so neat and even? To our surprise and delight, Abigail Tomas, PR consultant of the establishment, reveals to us, "They’re made by robots. Sakae Sushi boasts of machines that facilitate the sushi-making process–sushi rice washer, cooker, mixer, and the sushi robot which shapes and cuts them. This technology ensures that cleanliness, quality and consistency are maintained." My gosh–what else will the Japanese think of next?

Well, we quickly found out. Beside each table or in front of each counter seat is a computer monitor which contains the menu of the restaurant. No need to leaf through those heavy menu folders; just take the mouse and scroll down the list of dishes and pictures of all the delicacies. Designed in a technology-friendly manner, the interactive program allows even the computer-illiterate to choose and order lunch.

The monitors are all connected to a central computer and a waitress, clad in a Japanese inspired pant suit designed by Rajo Laurel, comes and confirms your orders before placing them with the kitchen.

But the bottom line of any restaurant is the food. We sampled some of the restaurant’s specialties beginning, of course, with the robot-made sushi, followed by some sashimi and the kaminabe paper hot pot. This is a Japanese soup of seafood or meat mixed with vegetables, tofu and noodles in clear broth. The dish is cooked in a burn-proof paper bowl set on top of a stone burner fired by pink fuel gel. Definitely a conversation piece, it’s a very tasty dish too.

Next in line was the beautifully prepared hotate mentayaki, or baked scallops with cheese and fish roe. Another delectable dish was the grilled kampachi, so fresh you can still taste the flavor of the sea in it. And finally, we sampled some very interesting Japanese pancakes made of shrimps, squid and vegetables mixed with batter and fried crisp brown.

"All our seafood are fresh," Abigail assures us. "They’re all imported. This fish you just ate came from Australia."

Being part of an international chain that was established in Singapore in 1997, Sakae Sushi strives to maintain a standard of excellence envisioned by its founder, Singaporean Douglas Foo. For conceptualizing and establishing Sakae Sushi, this young restaurateur won the Top Outstanding Young Person Award from the Junior Chamber of Singapore in 2002 and the Singapore Youth Award for Entrepreneurship in 2003.

To date, the restaurant has branches in Singapore, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The latest country to join the circuit is the Philippines through another young restaurateur, Hubert Young, who won the Philippine franchise from a field of over one hundred applicants. A second Philippine branch is forthcoming in the soon-to-be-opened Mall of Asia.

Abigail wouldn’t let us go without sampling the dessert fare. So each one of us ordered a different entry–crushed coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream for Jacintha; tempura ice cream (ice cream dipped in tempura batter and quickly deep-fried) for Virginia; simple green tea ice cream for Brigitte; and mochi topped with vanilla ice cream and beans for me. The mochi dessert was definitely to die for.

To help wash down the sumptuous meal that we all over-ate, my friends ordered green tea, the water for which was dispensed from a hot water tap conveniently located at the end of each table. Perfect for easy and fast refills, we all agreed.

After the hefty lunch we were shown the second floor dining area with five private rooms, each one seating eight persons. The rooms are equipped with a multi-media player and a big plasma TV for powerpoint and video presentations during business meetings, a sound system for karaoke entertainment, and the interactive computer for ordering food.

It is quite a pleasant discovery to dine in a restaurant that has found a way of keeping in step with rapid technological progress, and making it part of its in-house service. Merging technology and creativity, Sakae Sushi certainly provides that unique, fuss-free dining experience.

I asked Abigail what the green frog logo stands for and she tells us that the word sakae means to leap, to grow or move forward. Well, this certainly is one delicious leap forward, and I take my hat off to Sakae Sushi for paving the way for high-tech dining convenience not only in the Philippines but in the rest of Asia as well.