Tags: Food Establishments, Food Fare and Dishes
By Anna Valmero
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA— Filipino families troop to this buffet restaurant in Libis for its sumptuous offering of fresh seafood and Asian cuisine.
What makes the experience more appealing is that restaurant offers a hearty buffet treat and you can cook your own food at your own table’s smokeless grill.
Bono-yaki is owned by Herbert Ang, a Korean national who settled in the country some years ago.
He started the business last July 2010 and since then, patrons of the restaurant have grown from the usual students, young professionals and call center agents, to friends and families who celebrate reunions and birthdays during weekends.
“When you eat together with friends and families, you create happy memories that you can reminisce and experience again every time you smell or taste that particular food you’ve shared,” said store supervisor Sheryl Laude.
For most Filipinos today, fond memories of food shared together in family tables include staples such as grilled meat, fish and shellfish, fresh fruits, rice, the Chinese-inspired siomai, fried rice and Japanese sushi and sashimi.
This is the reason these dishes are served for lunch and dinner at Bono-yaki, said Laude.
For starters, there are five kinds of fresh salads, with ingredients near the sushi and sashimi bar. You can opt to add kimchi for an added zing to your usual Caesar salad.
Since Bono-yaki is a smokeless grill restaurant, diners can choose from 22 kinds of meat including fish, cuttlefish, chicken meat, pork, beef (fresh, skewered or marinated in teriyaki sauces), local shrimps, tiger prawns, kuhol, tahong, clams, spam, crab sticks and even camote tops in barbeque sticks.
Each meat is sliced very thin and can be cooked in less than five minutes, then dipped into your choice sauces.
Grilling these raw meats using the hot skillets on each table promotes a healthy way of cooking food among diners. Diners are also encouraged to sauté chopped garlic, white onion rings and other spices using a layer of oil brushed on the skillet.
For adventurous types, Laude pointed to an assortment of sauces such as butter with garlic and lemon extract, teriyaki sauce, yakitori sauce and barbeque sauce.
“Bestsellers for the raw meat section include locally grown shrimps, gindara or cod fish, US rib eye steak, blue marlin and beef belly wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves. People love to grill these items that we had to replenish the plates at the buffet table every 30 minutes or less,” shared Laude.
The restaurant restocks 30 kilos of fresh shrimps every two days. The shrimps and local fishes come from Navotas, while Norwegian tuna and the US rib eye are imported.
As an Asian restaurant, diners are also offered Korea’s spicy kimchi and chapchae stir-fried noodles, and ten kinds of sushi and sashimi, including sushi crepe wrapped in nori, and tempura.
You can also order noodles and create your own yakisoba mix at the noodle station which was added this month.
For those with a sweet tooth, don’t forget to go to the dessert table to sample the mango mousse, buko pandan, ube halaya, banana con hielo, mango crepe and creamy gelatin. There is also an ice cream station and an assortment of sprinkles such as choco chip cookies, marshmallows and pinipig (choco-coated or uncoated).
Flight attendant Tats Martinez, who works for a Middle East airline and a first-timer in the restaurant, said she loved the ambience of the restaurant especially on the eve of Valentine’s Day when she met family friends there for dinner.
She said she also liked the smokeless grill concept and that the smell of the grilled food did not stick on her clothes.
“Family dinner is one way to get updated with my family and friends since I am always out of the country for my work,” said Martinez.
On regular days, at least 180 persons dine in the area but this number doubles to over 350 during weekends especially during special occasions and holidays.
During weekdays, diners can avail of the eat-all-you-can promo for P350, which is cheaper than the regular P480 rate.
For weekends, the price for dinner is P580 each because of the additional seafood and fried tempura entrees on the menu. To prevent food waste, the restaurant charges P320 per plate of unfinished food so make sure you only get what you will eat.
Each month, Luade said they will be adding new entrees on the menu. For March, the management plans to expand their assorted cupcakes and Filipino desserts.
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