Ginzadon: A Fusion of Japanese-Korean Cuisine

Looking for nice place to hangout after some casino game or just to relax after a hard day at work? Maxims Hotel, the first and only six-star hotel in the country which will be fully functional by November, just opens a new door of gastronomic escapade that caters to the harmonious Japanese cuisine and to the flaring spicy Korean cuisine - Ginzadon.

I got a wonderful invitation to dine at this newly opened resto/bistro, and I’m so delighted to hear that they are indeed serving great Japanese and Korean dishes. Ginzadon's name is taken from "Ginza", an upscale district in Tokyo, Japan, while "don" is a Korean term for money.

I love Japanese food. I’m a big fan of this cuisine, so I’m really looking forward to this dinner. And because of the K-Pop invasion in the music scene and in our country, I’m starting to kinda love Korean cuisine – even their spicy Kim Chi!


Located at the 2^nd level of Maxims Hotel, Ginzadon has this kinda up-scale ambiance, with its red and black ensemble giving the whole place a cosy, professional look, it has tables for four that can easily be arranged to accommodate larger groups, giving a total of 70 guests a gastronomic indulgence that they will surely love.

On my first visit to this place, we ordered quite a “tableful” of dishes that we all enjoyed.

One important part of a Japanese-Korean dining experience is having a taste of their world-renowned appetizers. And one of these is Korea’s pride, Kim Chi.

I overheard that they have a chef that specializes on Kim Chi, so Ginzadon really takes pride with their appetizers.

Appetizers

Gladly, I liked their Kim Chi. It tasted good with a little sting in the tongue because of the chilli, which is a good sign of a delicious Kim Chi.

For our main course, we had rice, seafood – raw and cooked, beef and noodle dishes.

For our rice, we had the Japanese Fried Rice – Yakemeshi.

Yakemeshi – Php160.00

I didn’t find anything special about this dish other the rice grain they used. The texture was nice and the grain itself looked so tasty.

For our beef dish, we had the Korean dish – Galbi Jim.

Galbi Jim – Php1190.00

They said that this dish is best savoured with steamed rice, but I think with our Yakemeshi, its delicious taste is simply overpowering that any rise dish couldn’t overpower. This was my favourite dish for the night.

For our noodle dish, we had the Korean noodle dish – Jap Chae.

Jap Chae - Php350.00

I’m not a big fan of noodles, and I’m not sure if I had Jap Chae before, but all I can say is that this Jap Chae was really tasteful. The noodle in this dish is made from potatoes mixed with tender beef and vegetable strip garnished with egg and sesame seeds.

Now, for my favourite part, the seafood dishes!

We had one order of Sashimi Platter.

Sashimi Platter – Php1880.00

Oh, this was a feast platter! I love it! The color, the combination, the taste, everything was fantastic and fresh! To hell with my allergy, I wouldn’t mind having this platter again! Hahaha! With a plate of seven fresh seafoods, salmon, tuna, uni, tako (octopus), hokegai (scallops), ika (squid) and saba (marinated mackerel), who would mind about their allergy, right? Hehe.

But if you want something on a smaller scale, don’t worry, because you can order a plate of this fresh seafood, just like what we did. (Actually, this is just an extra order because we all loved their salmon. Hehe)

Salmon Sashimi - Php450.00

For the cooked seafood dishes, since not all Filipinos are fond of eating raw food, Ginzadon has something delectable that are very hard to resist.

First, we had a taste of their Seafood Yasai Itame.

 Seafood Yasai Itame – Php235.00

With its festive color, appetizing aroma and delectable choice of greens and seafood, this dish was the crowd favourite that night. The eye-catching amount of healthy greens and chewy seafood was really something that guests would love to dig in. I, myself, enjoyed looking and taking pictures of this wonderful dish. And as for the taste, superb! The fusion of Japanese and Korean culinary majesty succumb my mouth with a wonderful taste fusion giving me a wonderful dining experience.

And lastly, any Japanese or Korean cuisine indulgence wouldn’t be complete without Tempura. And that night, we had, of course, the Ebi Tempura.

 Ebi Tempura – Php390.00

Ooooh, their tiger prawn is the love! I got a chance to see how the chef prepped it and cooked it, and all I can say is that as I am typing this blog and looking back at this Ebi Tempura picture, I can’t help but to drool over it. Hahaha! This is one dish that I would never forget from Ginzadon. From its appearance, the wonderful plating and the sizes of the prawns to its freshness, this is one of those dishes that I will have when I come back at Ginzadon. Hopefully, soon! *wink-wink*

We were able to munch down all these wonderful dishes with the help of their refreshing iced tea and smoothies. I both had an Iced Tea and their Black Sesame Seed Smoothie. Two thumbs up for the Clack Sesame Seed Smoothie.

Iced Tea - Php102.00

Black Sesame Seed Smoothie - Php78.00

Overall, I was very happy with the presentation and taste of all the dishes that was served to us. The service was okay and the whole ambiance was awesome too. I got to hear one of my favourite Korean song which was a theme song of my favourite Korean telenovela, so yeah, I really enjoyed this experience.

Just a tip, to those who are planning to visit this place, since Maxims is connected to Resorts World Manila, always expect busy corridors where casino goers usually stay before or after their games. But nonetheless, the whole place was friendly and really pleasant.

And, oh, don’t be surprise to see a lot of very handsome gents at the lobby, because, as I heard, the butlers of Maxims Hotel are really eye-candies. Hahaha!

Happy eating!

Ginzadon

2^nd Level, Maxims Hotel

Resorts World Manila, New Port, Pasay City

(02) 908-8163