IF THERE’S one restaurant currently redefining Quezon City’s casual Japanese dining scene, it’s Manmaru Japanese Restaurant-QC. Tucked along the ever-busy Tomas Morato strip, right by Il Terrazo, the restaurant has quietly built a loyal following -- not through flashy marketing, but through generous portions, comforting Japanese flavors, and an izakaya atmosphere that feels both energetic and approachable.
Manmaru brings the bright ligths of izakayas of Japan with a menu of cult-favorite Japanese comfort food north of Metro Manila. This branch was a full house even on a weekday when I visited the restaurant.
The first thing you notice upon entering is the energy. Servers weave efficiently through tightly packed tables while diners crowd around plates of sushi, sizzling rice bowls, tempura, and grilled skewers. The space feels alive in the best way possible -- less polished fine dining, more Tokyo side-street izakaya.
The menu leans heavily into crowd-pleasing Japanese staples. Their salmon bowls, maki rolls, tempura, and grilled dishes consistently emerge as customer favorites. We had Kani mango salad to start, which was a delight with its generous sweet mango slices, five kinds sashimi with blue fin tuna, sashimi, mackerel, water octopus, hamachi (yes, you read that right, hamachi in their sashimi platter, which in other restaurants would be a special order and a much higher price).
For the main courses, we stuck with the usual and Manmaru did not disappoint. We tasted the Gyu enoki maki, featuring tender beef wrapped around savory enoki mushrooms, and the Manmaru roll a huge serving of savory, generously packed sushi roll containing Philippine mango, spicy salmon, tuna, cucumber, and kani crabstick.
Gyu karubi beef grilled beef dish marinated in a sweet and savory Japanese sauce, an order of the standard chicken teriyaki, with Yakisoba and two types of rice dishes like Yakiniku kinchi don topped with fermented Kinchi and Ebi tobiko chahan generously topped with both shrimp and roe fried rice. Delicious!
The watermelon drink with chia seeds and the green mango shake were perfect accompaniments to the meal. For dessert, Manmaru offers ice cream in Matcha green tea, vanilla or chocolate.
What makes Manmaru stand out in Quezon City’s saturated food scene is value. In a city where Japanese restaurants often swing between overpriced and underwhelming, Manmaru hits a sweet spot: substantial portions, affordable pricing, and food that feels satisfying rather than overly stylized. For someone who grew up eating Japanese cuisine all my life, I would have to say that this is best value-for-money Japanese restaurant in Quezon City in recent years. I will be back here for sure.
It’s not trying to be exclusive or intimidating. Instead, it delivers something far more difficult: consistency, comfort, and a dining experience that one will be coming back for sure.
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