Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Group opens new Japanese resto, focuses on Cebuanos, not tourists
WITH the growing popularity of Japanese food among Cebuanos, a group of young Japanese entrepreneurs part-nered with a Cebuano businesswoman to open a Japanese res-taurant.
“There is a strong demand for Japanese food, even among locals,” said Raquel Dungog, proprietor of Gokuizakaya Japanese restaurant.
Gokuizakaya, located near the Maria Luisa subdivision in Banilad, Cebu City, opened yesterday.
Dungog said her Japanese friends Naoki Omo, Keith Otsuka and Takamitsu Otsuka prodded her to open a restaurant. The three Japanese are Dungog’s partners in Aquamarine Ocean Tours Inc. (AOTI), which involves water sports activities.
AOTI, founded nine years ago, is the first business venture of the group.
“We initially wanted a business that caters only to tourists, but we found out that this market (foreign tourists) is not always stable so we told her (Dungog) to invest in a Japanese restaurant,” said Omo.
He said the presence of foreign tourist in Cebu and in the Philippines, in general, can be affected by terrorism and other security issues. This is something that the group realized with AOTI, he added.
Raquel said the group invested about P3 million in Gokuizakaya, derived from San Goku, a character in the Japanese animation Dragon Ball Z.
The restaurant is housed in a two-story building with a floor area of 200 square meters, and a total seating capacity of 90 people.
Otsuka said the restaurant specializes in hand-made Japanese soba or noodles. “Our ingredients are authentic Japanese,” he said.
In an interview with reporters, Dungog said Gokuizakaya is meant to cater to the locals, which explains the menu’s prices that range from P180 to P300.
She explained that the restaurant is set to deviate from the common notion that Japanese restaurants are highly expensive and caters only to the A and B markets. MMM)
