Karinderyang Hapon

spicy chili ebi

the karinderia (pinoy side street restaurant) should not be mistaken for an establishment that serves street food common in most asian countries. whereas street food are stalls set up along the streets with nothing more than low stools to sit on while you enjoy your food, the karinderia is set up like a hole-in-the-wall type of establishment where food is generally prepared by batch and patrons choose their viand, the servings are small and prices are generally very reasonable.

ebi furai - not to be mistaken for ebi tempura, furai literally means "fry" in japanese. shrimp coated in breadcrumb and fried to a crispy crunch

Joed's Lutong Hapon is a bit confusing for a restaurant name as it would literally translate to "Joed's Afternoon Cooking" which would make one think that the food is only served and cooked during the mid afternoon. On the contrary, Hapon is the local term for Japanese and the place serves karinderia grade Japanese fare.

Joed is derived from "Joan" and "Edgar", the couple who owns the place.

Edgar used to work in Japan and when he decided to come back to Cebu, he set up his own Hapon eatery. The service is basic, fast and the food (so far) is nothing extraordinary though the idea of ordering japanese sounding dishes like katsudon, ebi tempura, beef teriyaki has a novel feel.

I'm guessing that some dishes are prepared beforehand (like the beef teriyaki and the camaron rebusado, err, ebi tempura) whereas some are prepared on the spot. This is the same concept in karinderia's where you can ask the place to quickly sautee a can of sardines, corned beef or tuna or add an additional scrambled egg to your meal aside from the pre-cooked dishes.

Beef Teriyaki, i found it a bit too mushy with a corned beef consistency and texture.

The serving sizes are moderately portioned, which is relatively comparable to the pricing model. A serving of six pieces of chili ebi (shrimp) will cost you a hundred bucks, rather expensive if you think about it, but they do serve it in smaller portions that would allow you to order a number of dishes to sample.

creamy ebi maki, the fresh crunchiness of the cucumber mixed well with the shrimp undertone of the creamy  sauce that topped the maki.

For Php 301 pesos i was able to order a bowl of beef teriyaki, a serving each of ebi tempura and ebi chili together with a can of coke zero. A good deal compared to the price i paid in Sumo Sam for a set of tori roll, katsudon and crispy ika (squid) that set me back an easy Php 750. Then again, the portions are twice the size in SumoSam.

mushroom tofu, tofu nuggets stuffed with mushroom bits,  fried and served on top of kikkoman sauce.  the tofu had the consistency of a fishball one would usually find sold on the streets, i was expecting the tofu to be either softer (mapo style) or the stringier chinese version.

Overall, using the Cebuano rating scale using Price (8), Portion (6) and Taste (7) will give you a rating of  7/10 - fairly decent and a place that might be a second or third option if you're on a budget but want to eat something other than pinoy dishes.

tonkatsu curry

They have two branches, the one in mabolo is rather cramped whereas the one near sacred heart - hijas de jesus in camputhaw has a better location but equally problematic for parking specially when classes start.