Jericho, Justice and I were left to our own devices on a Wednesday afternoon, so when one of Jericho's clients backed out of a photo shoot last minute (check out his portfolio here and e-mail him for a quote), we somehow ended up walking around SM Aura Premier looking for a place to eat.
Initially, the gameplan was to finally go and check out Ramen Nagi, but the lines were so long! Still craving for Japanese food, we ended up walking around the Skypark some more and parked our butts at one of the booths at Ogetsu Hime for a lot of their makimonos and teppanyaki.
We were on a makimono binge, and I of course, I wanted something spicy. The Spicy Maguro Roll (P285) was so-so, quite disappointing as far as heat is concerned. The tuna was marinated in soy and sesame with spicy kochukaru mayonnaise before being rolled in black and yellow ebiko with a roasted sesame dressing. I liked the crispy tempura batter, giving the colorful ingredients a bit of personality. I was apprehensive seeing how red the raw tuna was, but it wasn't as hot as I would have liked it to be.
Unlike the Spicy Maguro Roll, the Wasabi Shake (P375) brought on the heat! Chunks of spicy salmon and crispy tempura batter are drizzled with a hot wasabi mayonaise, and the spiciness settles on your tongue, making you want to go in for more or down a tall glass of water, whatever comes first.
Jericho's sister, Justice, isn't too fond of getting sesame seeds stuck in her teeth, so the Goma Ebi Tempura Roll (P205) was a good compromise, with half the rolls covered in black sesame seeds while the other half in black ebiko, with the orange tails and meat of the tempura prawns sticking out. This was again covered in crispy tempura bits that I couldn't help but keep picking at, drizzled with with roasted sesame mayonnaise and light teriyaki sauce on the bottom.
Jericho wanted to try something different and ordered the Momo Teri Maki (P205). I found this very weird, it was more pizza-like than maki-like. The Momo Teri was served with the foil wrap, revealing chunks of chicken teriyaki and bacon on top, with more chicken teriyaki and asparagus inside, that had been rolled in lots of orange ebiko and topped with creamy Béchamel sauce, torched Mozzarella and a light teriyaki sauce that made for a weird, goopy dip, leaving the bottom of our makis damp and soggy.
It doesn't really take make to make me happy, so I moved on from the weird teriyaki chicken-pizza-in-a-maki to the perfectly done Asupara Bacon Kushi Yaki (P150), basically skewered bacon-wrapped asparagus. Smokey, simple, and crunchy. Happy!
I had the Shira Teppanyaki (P350) the first time I went here, and absolutely loved it! So we had it again, so Justice can give it a try. The Mahi Mahi is always perfectly done, and is pretty firm with a meaty feel, you can almost trick yourself into thinking you're eating chicken.
Speaking of chicken, the Tori Muneniku Teriyaki (P150) was pretty good, too. Chicken + light teriyaki sauce + grill = comfort food. I must've polished off most of this by myself, and although it was a bit under seasoned, the teriyaki sauce did a pretty good job of keeping the meat moist as well as flavoring it.
When mucking around SM Aura Premier, give Ogetsu Hime a go. This Japanese place has a range of dishes ranging from affordable to luxurious, catering to everyone's budget and taste, serving everything from sushi, to robatayaki, to teppanyaki, to sukiyaki - and probably all the other -yakis in between!
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Ogetsu Hime
+63 2 519 9840
+63 917 809 6585
Level 5, SM Aura Premier,
26th Street cor. McKinley Parkway, Taguig
Open Daily: 10am - 9pm
