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Mariah Carey’s done it. Lindsay Lohan did it too. Megan Fox even does it with her husband. And in Japan, practically everyone’s doing it. It’s yakiniku, barbecuing meat on a charcoal flame, and the hottest place to do it is at the popular Japanese restaurant chain Gyu-Kaku.

Now people in the Philippines are getting a taste of the celebrity-endorsed outlet, with the April 5 opening of their first branch in metropolitan Manila. Already, it’s proving to be very popular with the locals. But when we heard that the star of this Gyu-Kaku (“Bull’s Horn”) wasn’t the meat but the seafood, we had to pay them a visit to see what was going on.

First off, when we entered the restaurant, we were shown to a large table area. Our waiter, T.J., seemed like a fine, amicable young man so we decided to put what we’d heard to the test by asking him for his recommendations. With no hesitation, he told us that the best thing to order was “definitely the seafood.”

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Seafood recommended over meat at a BBQ meat restaurant known as Bull’s Horn? At first, we were a bit shocked. But then when we thought about it, we realised that the Philippines is actually surrounded by beautiful coastal waters. And when the fish here is sourced locally, why wouldn’t it be the star item on the menu? With one of the world’s most beautiful beaches nearby on Boracay Island, the fish must surely be just as spectacular.

So we decided to go with the seafood, starting with buttered oysters roasted in foil. These were amazing. The oysters were so plump and fresh it was almost as if the wait staff had dashed out to fish them from the waters after we placed our order. The melted butter on these was a perfect accompaniment.

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Next up, we ordered some prawns. These turned out to be much bigger than we could ever have imagined. And they were absolutely delicious! Unfortunately though, when we started on the second prawn, we dropped it on the floor by accident! Without a moment’s delay, our waiter was there with a smile, saying, “we’ll cook up a new one for you.” What an incredible level of service! We were very impressed.

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So what did we learn from our visit to Gyu-kaku in the Philippines? For one, the seafood is delicious. Also, the service is spectacular; even our soft drink order arrived with attention to detail.

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If you ever visit the Philippines, we definitely recommend you pop in here, and do as they do: order the seafood. You won’t be disappointed!

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Store Information:
Gyu-kaku Philippines
Address: Ninth Avenue, Corner 30th Street, Bonifacio Global, Taguig City
Opening Hours: Mon-Thu and Sun 11am-10pm; Fri, Sat 11am-11pm
Phone: +63 2 553 8962

Photos © SoraNews24 
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