Pinoydon: Doing it the Japanese way

Imagine this: Tender strips of your favorite bistek cooked in a Japanese donburi pan, mixed with slightly beaten eggs, caramelized onions, plus one scoop of Japanese donburi sauce. Once cooked, pour the bistek over piping hot Japanese rice. The result – Bistek Don. And it can be found only at Pinoydon, the most exciting fusion restaurant to hit Manila.

Located at level 5 of The Podium in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Pinoydon integrates the comfort of Filipino cuisine with the simplicity of Japanese cooking. The brilliant combination of the two cuisines was crafted a year ago in the minds of restaurateur Deanne-Deanne Montoya, marketing consultant Jane Cruz-Walker and advertising specialist Alain Panlilio. With partners Martin Litton and Raymond Cruz (the same team behind the successful Hoshi Japanese outlet in Dish, Rockwell), the management team of Pinoydon formally opened the restaurant last May 26. Leading the ribbon-cutting ceremony were singer Viktoria, STAR columnist Johnny Litton, Pipol host Ces Oreña-Drilon and Studio 23 VJ JM Rodriguez.

The "don" in Pinoydon comes from "donburi," the Japanese version of Filipino rice toppings. The most popular donburi dish is katsudon – breaded porkchop cooked in a donburi pan, with Japanese sauce and one slightly beaten egg, then poured over Japanese rice. So what if you take basic longganisa and cook it the donburi way? The result is unspeakably luscious. What if you apply the same procedure to other Filipino classics like adobo, tapa and bangus belly? The possibilities are endless!

Though only two months old, Pinoydon is already receiving very positive feedback from frequent family diners and Ortigas workers. Food preparation is quick and easy, and the ingredients are fresh and of high quality.

The green walls and modern chairs of the restaurant lend a cool, tasteful atmosphere. The menu prices are affordable, too, ranging from P89 to P145, and the choices are mouthwateringly many. The Filipino donburi is the specialty of the house, and there are 10 types, from vegetarian to corned beef to tocino. There is teriyaki inihaw with atsara and even aligue maki, tinapa maki and tortang talong maki. For side dishes, there’s kani lumpia (with crabsticks and bean sprouts) and ensalada with kani tempura and itlog na maalat drizzled with Oriental dressing.

The Pinoydon group is still exploring this new and exciting culinary genre of Japanese-Filipino fast-food fusion, so expect new dishes soon. In the meantime, all guests at Pinoydon say, "Oishi desu yo!"