Aitaya Japanese Restaurant

Now this is a hidden gem in the Mile Long area. It is isolated from all the other Japanese establishments situated along Little Tokyo and the Creekside Mall. It doesn't even have an English sign and could be the only restaurant operating in Mile Long. This place was recommended to me by a Japanese national for their specialty nabemonos, which I have yet to try (save for their sukiyaki).

We've visited twice already so we've tried several of their dishes:

Grilled saba lunch set -- Very nice and priced right.
Yakiniku lunch set -- Beef was surprisingly quite tender and it comes with a sizable bowl of soba noodle soup.
Niniku shake maki -- My first time to try shake maki with niniku. Interesting!
Tofu steak -- Just OK. The quality of the tofu was excellent but I wished the ground pork mix had more taste and kick to it.
Uni maki -- Just OK for the price. I've had much better for less at Little Tokyo area.
Sukiyaki -- Great value for money. This would appeal to those who like their Sukiyaki served a tad sweeter than usual. At only P290, they say the dish is good for 1 but is actually good for 2.
Gyoza -- A bit of a letdown for us. Limp and somewhat a bit needing some more pan-frying. I had our returned for some more frying. Still doesn't beat Shinjuku's.
Ebi and Okra tempura -- Excellent. Not too much batter which I prefer.
Tekamaki -- Standard fare, just OK.

Our Japanese friend particularly recommended the Curry Chanko which is good for 3-4 persons. But I was told that a half order can be accommodated. We'll try this next time.

Service was good and the place was very clean -- a mild surprise if you're used to the (un)sanitary standards of Little Tokyo. Also, regardless of the flavor of the food, they all had that "clean taste" we like, as if one is dining in an expensive Japanese restaurant.

I chanced upon this place in Amorsolo Building on my way to meet with a client. It seemed interesting enough because it was "hidden" that I told myself if I get the chance to eat there, I would take it. On my 2nd meeting with my client, I got there an hour early and so I took the chance to have a solo lunch at this Japanese place called Akitaya.

I love that they gave me a cold towel soon as I came in. When I was young, all the food places my family and I would go to had this tradition. It was very comforting to have this done again. It was refreshing and it helped put me in a better mood to chow down.

As you can see, the interiors are very simple but trust me when I say that there was a constant round robin of people eating there. I was actually placed at the bar because I was eating by myself which was a first for me.

I ordered the Wafu Ramen which cost Php220. It's actually good enough for 2 people to share but since I did not have brunch yet, I ate this all by myself.

Why???? Actually, I finished this by myself because it was SO GOOD. I had a sip of the soup and BOOM! It was ramen heaven. Now this is what ramen really is. The soup alone was more than enough. I could taste the pork, the nori, and everything that this thing was soaked into for god knows how long. It was simply TASTY.

The pork was also another thing. It was tender and cooked to perfection. If I could fall in love with soup, I would choose this.