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Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant is probably one of your best options if you are looking for fresh, delicious, and high-quality sushi and sashimi.

Located in the upscale Bonifacio Global City (BGC), it’s the perfect location for a good weekend meet up with friends or a fancy dinner with your loved ones. However, knowing the notoriously heavy traffic in BGC, I would not dare go here on a weeknight unless the trip is extremely necessary.

Teppan Gozen

Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant: fresh and authentic sushi and sashimi selections

Anyway, before I proceed, I would like to declare that this review is quite a late post. In fact, this is a very late post since it was way back in 2016 when we went out with our friends for lunch at Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant. From that time on, some changes about the restaurant in terms of menu and service might have occurred. I am basing this review all on my memory of our lunch out.

It was a Saturday when we went to Ogawa so the traffic going to BGC was light and bearable. We arrived at The Fort Strip; I neither had an idea nor any expectation of what was in store for us at Ogawa. As such, I was quite intimidated when we entered the restaurant. It had eye-catching interiors, with its walls embellished with traditional Japanese decorations. On initial impression, Ogawa looked like an authentic Japanese restaurant (or at least those that I see in movies and photos).

Since we were around 10 people, we reserved for a function room. My intimidation grew even further when the menu was handed over to us. I would not lie that the Japanese names were severely unfamiliar to me. Yeah, I know sushi, sashimi, and maki but that’s just about it. Seeing the price did not help ease the intimidation. Thankfully, there are options that are a bit easy-on-the-pocket.

What we ordered at Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant

After much deliberation, Ynah and I settled on our orders. Mine was Nigiri Sushi Gozen while Ynah is having Teppan Gozen. When our orders arrived, we could not help but be enthralled with how beautiful the food is arranged on equally fine-looking cutlery.

Nigiri Sushi Gozen

Ogawa’s Nigiri Sushi Gozen is a set meal composed of an Appetizer, Chawan Mushi, Assorted Sushi Platter, Miso Soup, and Dessert (Php540). The appetizer is like a seaweed salad. It was just a small plate, not really substantial but enough to whet the appetite. No matter, I was excited to try the mains. It did not disappoint! I tried the salmon and the shrimp and it was really fresh; the seafood tasted slightly sweet. One of the sushi types that I was really looking forward to trying was the salmon roe sushi. I was expecting it to be awfully rich and savory but the taste was actually mild and well-balanced.

Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant's seaweed salad

Appetizer

Meanwhile, Ynah’s Teppan Gozen is a work of art. It had Appetizer, Salad, Salmon, Prawn, US Rib-Eye Steak (100 g), Fried Rice, miso soup, and dessert (Php840), all beautifully-arranged in blue and white plates. The seafood is good but what was notable and outstanding in this set is the US rib-eye steak. The meat was juicy, tender, and was bursting with flavor. The beef was so good; it felt like sacrilege not to have it with rice.

Salmon roe sashimi

I wish I could have the Teppan Gozen on a regular basis but, alas, that is not possible unless I want to spend a good portion of my salary on this meal alone. This dish is actually good for sharing so if you want to split cost with a colleague or a friend, you would still end up satisfied with your meal. Anyway, if you are out on a date, be sure to recommend Teppan Gozen to your partner if you want to make a lasting impression.

Tuna Sashimi

These are just two selections that we tried. There are other interesting food offerings in the menu as well as an impressive set of drinks. Be sure to try those but I do urge you to keep your credit card handy or a good amount of cash in your wallet.

Our verdict

Overall, we loved our experience at Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant. Again, keep in mind that this is a premium Japanese restaurant just to manage your expectations when it comes to price. However, similar to other high-end restaurants, remember that you are paying for the quality of the food, the service, convenience, and the experience.

We have not been back to Ogawa Traditional Japanese Restaurant since 2016 but I do hope that we can come back here one of these days.

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