The area where I live has hundreds of restaurants. I live around the Katipunan-Marikina-Quezon City area. Many are very good while others are so-so. There too are many undiscovered dining places both local and foreign. What I love about our neck of the woods is that most restaurants are reasonably priced, unlike those few in Makati and BGC where you leave limping because eating there costs an arm and a leg.
One thing I noticed, however, is the lack of cozy fine dining restaurants. If you want to go on a quiet date or are still in the courting stage, most of the restaurants are bright. Somehow you also get the feeling you can’t stay too long.
The restaurant I recently came back to after maybe 20 years was a Japanese fusion restaurant. It was impressive. The food was good and the dishes were well presented, but then I thought the food was not quite there in terms of seasoning or taste.
The dishes were creative and very well presented but something was missing. I love the place because it’s one of a kind in our area. It has a cozy ambiance, plus the prices are reasonable. In fact, they have tables outside where couples celebrate anniversaries, and many marriage proposals have been made, etc.
Recently, friends Benny and Rannie Mercado invited us for dinner. When Rannie asked where I wanted to have dinner, I snapped, “Ninyo’s.” As you walk in, there are tables for two with signs of anniversaries, birthday dates, and a few others.
I was excited. After almost two decades, I thought to myself, that’s a lot of culinary experience right there. I was right. Each item we ordered was delicious, unique, and very well plated. We started with two salads—wakame salad and the shiitake salad.
Salad ingredients were fresh and the dressing was delicious. Then we had two orders of sushi, which they make very well: Sushi-style prawn roll and the salmon belly tempura roll. Everything was spot on, and the flavors were combined with wonderful crispy textures. All of us loved eating there.
For mains, we had seabass confit, a rack of lamb perfectly done to my likeness, and a duck leg confit.
Each and every item was so good. I was very impressed. For dessert, we had Belgian chocolate cake. There aren’t too many items on the menu but one can close their eyes and point at anything and, for sure, it’ll be good. I like that kind of a restaurant.
Ninyo’s is the place to go to in Quezon City. Beautiful ambiance, efficient service, and great food! Check it out.
Ninyo’s is at 66 Esteban Abada Street, Quezon City. Call +632 8426 0301. It’s in the Ateneo area, but Lasallites are also welcome!
sandydaza.blogspot.com | Twitter: @sandydaza