Sake is trending, and this Izakaya pairs it with outstanding food and music
Izakayas — casual, Japanese-style bars that serve alcohol with snacks and are a popular after-work hangout — are trending in Manila right now, and arguably the trendiest is Izakaya Geronimo, brought to us by the same team as Wagyu Studio.
Geronimo is so trendy, in fact, that the FIBA organization held their afterparty there, arriving close to midnight after the last game and partying until 7 a.m. the next morning, eating and drinking the izakaya’s carefully curated line of craft sakes.
“Sake is really trending worldwide right now, more than ever, so we wanted to be one of the first ones to bring in really high-quality sake,” says Lui Clavano, one of the owners of Izakaya Geronimo. “And we named it Geronimo because we took a leap of faith. Like, before jumping off a cliff, it’s really, ‘Geronimo!’ It's a statement. We’re risk takers, so we decided to do something a little crazy. And the concept is a contemporary izakaya, so we didn't want it to have like a Japanese feel, really. The sake display, the sushi counter and the ramen bar — that's the most Japanese part of this whole concept.”
Izakaya Geronimo is a lofty, high-ceilinged space occupying around 400 square meters. When you enter, in front of you is the sushi bar and open kitchen. To your right is the sake bar, and to your left is the dining area. Walk further in and you’ll pass the ramen bar and arrive at a lounge area at the back with its own separate bar and private function room. This is where customers can really chill out, listen or dance to music, and party until last person standing.
In charge of the food is chef Erik Idos, a Fil-Am born in LA who worked at Nobu for 10 years, as sous chef of Nobu New York and San Diego, then executive chef of Nobu Hong Kong. “My story is that I decided to move to Hong Kong in 2010 and opened my own restaurant (a Mexican place) called Chino, and then the reason I ended up here is I opened Chino in the Philippines in 2018.”
But then pandemic happened, Idos closed Chino, and was doing consulting work when he met the owners of Wagyu Studio through mutual friends, who said, “They're opening a new restaurant, and they’re good, good people.” So Idos met with Lui, brothers LA and Mico Clavano, Carlos Alvarez, and chef Yoji Kitayama. It was a good fit, and he was hired.
The savoriness of the snacks at Izakaya Geronimo definitely get you in the mood for drinking. Crispy Shirauo, dili-sized ice fish that are battered and fried to an addictive crunch, go perfectly with refreshing keg cocktails like the Yuzu Margarita and Shiso Mojito.
If you’re an egg fan try the Potato Salad with Ajitama egg — its runny yolk is creamy, satisfying, and stomach-lining.
From the Raw & Cold menu the Toro Wasabi Salsa is a standout — six buttery slices of fish swimming in a tart yuzu-miso sauce.
Our server Hiro, who is half-Pinoy and half-Japanese, was very warm, helpful, and knowledgeable about the food. He was also so fast-moving he was a blur, moving as efficiently as The Flash.
While Scott had the Butabara yakitori — pork-belly skewers with garlic miso — I had two kinds of temaki: Spicy Salmon, which gets its considerable heat from mayo with togarashi; and Toro Uni Caviar, which contains three of my favorite things wrapped in nori. Who needs to go to Japan when you have this kind of fresh food?
Chef Idos says that, while the majority of Geronimo’s ingredients are imported from Japan, the US and Australia, the fish for his version of Filet O Fish is local tanigue, coated in panko bread crumbs and sandwiched in between a soft milk bun.
Other great bar-chow options are the spicy Popcorn Shrimp and Maitake Mushroom Tempura, the batter of which is light and well-seasoned.
A must-try for meat eaters is the Pork Katsudon — US pork loin marinated in shio koji (rice milk) for two days and then cooked slowly for four hours. Served with a wasabi relish, it was so tender that Scott could cut it with a spoon!
Dessert consisted of Kurimu ice creams In vanilla, caramel and chocolate flavors, but Lui had us try one of the 22 labels of artisanal sake that he worked hard to bring from Japan to the Philippines (“For you to be able to carry their products, you need to have a really good relationship with them.”). This yuzu sake reminded me of limoncello but was lighter and so enlivening it practically danced on the tongue. It was no doubt the best way to end a meal at Izakaya Geronimo.
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Izakaya Geronimo, open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner from 4 p.m. to last person standing, is located at G/F Asian Century Plaza, 3rd Avenue corner 27th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, mobile (0962) 097-4969, email izakayageronimo@gmail.com or visit izakayageronimo.com.
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