If you're one of those who like to travel overseas just to enjoy good food in a dynamic dining scene — well, you might want to first consider Manila before flying out.
One of the newest to open is Sakagura in BGC, patterned after a modern Japanese izakaya and sake bar.
Located in a tight corner on the terrace of One Bonifacio High Street, Sakagura does resemble one of the many izakayas you come across in big cities like Tokyo or Kyoto where bars are often crammed into every bit of space on the street.
Sakagura is owned and operated by the Nikkei Group of restaurants, and like the popular Japanese-Peruvian restaurant, Sakagura goes to great lengths to provide an authentic experience -- like flying in a Japanese chef to helm the kitchen. Even fresh ingredients are flown in directly from Japan regularly, including high grade wagyu beef from Saga Prefecture in Kyushu island.
“I had to combine a couple of things that I really love about Japan. I love visiting the saké breweries and I love visiting the izakaya. So what I wanted to really do is come up with a place where you feel like you're as close to the sake breweries as you can be and close to the izakayas and have the best ingredients. So that's what we do — we source things pretty well. We're very particular with execution and ambiance," says Carlo Lorenzana of the Nikkei Group.