Baguio: Hamada Japanese Restaurant

He juggles spatulas! He flambes! He tosses food in the air! All these and more are just part of a day's work of the masterful teppanyaki chef at Hamada Restaurant in Baguio Country Club. 

Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. Teppanyaki chefs usually prepare and cook food in front of guests. It's here that cooking becomes entertainment when the chef shows off his skills - juggling utensils and/or food, flambeing beef - all the while whipping up hot off the grill delicious food.

 

Different appetizers are served for each day of the week at Hamada, the one pictured above is bit-sized breaded fish fillet served with what tastes like sweet barbecue sauce. On another visit, we were served with crispy dilis or anchovies.

  

 I love salmon sashimi! And the one at Hamada is delicious. Fresh and served in thick slices, I could eat at least 2 more servings of this. Mmm... =)

 Eating Japanese restos are never complete without a serving of hot green tea, for me at least. The small cup is perfect for sipping and savoring the taste of the tea instead of downing it all in one gulp.

Chef preparing the food right in front of us. You can smell and anticipate the yummy food that you're about to eat! Individual servings are placed on our plates.

Steaming pan fried vegetables.

Steaming freshly mixed Japanese fried rice.

Chef expertly places rice in bowls which we had to wait for a while before eating because it was still hot.

It's easy to see why Hamada has been voted as one of the best Japanese restaurants by the Philippine Tattler in 2007. With its view wonderful of the Benguet mountains, skilled (and acrobatic) chefs, not to mention well-prepared Japanese cuisine, it's worth a visit. 

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Baguio Country Club

Country Club Road, Baguio City
Tel: (63-74) 619-2050 to 64
Fax: (63-74) 442-6501 or 442-7674
Email: info@bcc.com.ph