November 14, 2015

Aozora Japanese Café + Bistro - The Place Where Your Japanese Taste Meets The Sky

The last time I was in Tagaytay was last year and travelling up there made me realized that there’s so many changes that already happened in that mountain getaway and so many new establishments left and right had been erected. If you ask Manilenos, I bet may would agree that Tagaytay is probably the go-to place near Metro Manila if they want to go for some unwinding. You can do a lot of things there for relaxation and fun especially that it his continuously being developed and establishments continuously sprouting everywhere. As for me, I’ve always loved the cool and crisp Tagaytay breeze; so when I was invited to visit a fairly new restaurant in Tagaytay, together with other bloggers, I did not hesitate at all.




The travel to Tagaytay was fairly cheerful.  We drove up there in the very early hours of a Sunday morning and traffic was not yet that frustrating. We arrived at Domicillo Hotel where Aozora Japanese Café + Bistro is located. It’s on the top floor and no customers were there yet. What we first did was to check out the view of the ever-famous Taal lake and volcano at the deck.
 


This awe-inspiring view of Taal lake and volcano view always mesmerizes me despite the fact that I’ve seen it soooo many times and have had my picture taken with it as my background. Aozora has one of the best and unobstructed view of Taal. Then came time for lunch! We were invited by the lovely and super nice owner of Aozora Japanese Café + Bistro, Christine Villonco for a wonderful Japanese lunch with a equally magnificent ambiance of the cool Tagaytay surroundings. 





Aozora means blue sky in Japanese. This first authentic Japanese restaurant + bistro in Tagaytay is the place where your taste meets the sky. A perfect ambiance for those who crave for extraordinary food in an ultimate dining place. It is a glorious experience to be eating gourmet authentic Japanese food under the canopy of the majestic Tagaytay sky. It is almost like dining in heaven where from end to end one beholds white clouds in blue or the starry night in the coolness of the evening.




Served to us were simply delicious food with fresh and organic ingredients were used, prepared and cooked in authentic Japanese style and ingredients by Japanese chef Seiji Kamura. Aozora’s ingredients are both locally produced in Tagaytay and sourced from Japan. Owners of the restaurant have a friend who  flies to Japan twice a week and buys some of the  ingredients for them. Their mint leaves are picked from the plants at the deck just right outside the restaurant.




So here’s the items that we got to try:

Dragon maki – Made from ebi and presented like a dragon, using a shrimp cut into two and placed at both ends of the maki ’ roll to serve as the head and tail of the dragon. Super cool way to plate and represent the name of this maki.


Gyoza – Japanese version of the pork dumpling, complete with sauce/dip



Sukiyaki – This is something you couldn’t miss! All of us considered Aozora’s sukiyaki as their favorite dish of the day. It had just the right sweetness with sumptuous and generous serving of beef, a variety of mushrooms and other veggies.



Salmon sashimi - Aozora's salmon are sourced directly from Japan and it tasted different from the one you would usually eat from other restaurants. 



Miso tofu soup – I love how super tasteful Aozora’s miso soup is.  Unlike the other miso soups that I’ve tried from other restos which are quite bland and lack flavor.



Aozora fried rice – flavorful rice with seafoods



Aozora salad – mixed greens topped with crispy kani strips. I love the crunchy-ness of the fried kani, it added texture to the salad.  



Ebi Tempura – I have allergies with seafoods and I make sure I take an antihistamine every time I plan to eat them. But on this trip, I was not able to bring one with me but I took a bite anyway. Fortunately I didn’t experience any reaction which I probably owe to the fact that Aozora’s tempura used fresh shrimps. 



Chicken tonkatsu – the chicken they used for the chicken dishes were so soft and tender. This is also because the chicken meat that they used were fresh and not frozen.



Pork tonkatsu – oh well, what can I say, I'm a pork tonkatsu lover/fan so this is my favorite too! The breading isn't oily and the meat was tender.



Chicken teriyaki -  the sauce is just right. The chicken they used for the chicken dishes were so soft and tender. This is also because the chicken meat that they used were fresh and not frozen.



Aozora ramen – the soup for this ramen is enriched with Tagaytay favorite bulalo to give a unique and delightful taste. Quite a clever menu entry if you ask me, why not right? Tagaytay is well known for bulalo anyway! Kudos to the one who thought of this!



Aozora iced tea – their very own tea with cucumber, mint, lemongrass and pandan (the mint leaves are picked from the plants at the deck just right outside the restaurant)



Other drinks -



Dining in Aozora will give you an utterly romantic serene and awesome feeling. They also serve a variety of drinks from coffee,  iced tea, fruit shakes, beer and sake, so if you want to stay for the sunset and enjoy the cool and crisp Tagaytay breeze after your lunch or dinner, you can lounge around one of the plush couches at the viewing deck, and then maybe… you can tell yourself that “life is good…




Perfect for dates family bonding, group outings, meetings, special events like intimate weddings and birthdays, baptisms or just being alone with your favorite book and wine. (Yes they accept functions and caterings too!)  When you have them in Aozora it is guaranteed to make them memorable.  And speaking of memorable, I have to say this trip to Tagaytay is one of the most fun I had for some time!




The bloggers I was with on this foodie event were super cool, funny and friendly! We just can’t stop talking, teasing and laughing starting from our drive up to Tagaytay and back to Manila. And if I may add also, the owner of Aozora Ms. Christine Villonco is such a sweet and light-spirited lady who welcomed and made us felt at home at Aozora. By far, one of the best lunches I’ve had in Tagaytay! So thanks Aldous (the master food event organizer/blogger behind aldousatetheworld.com) for organizing this!


Aozora Japanese Cafe + Bistro
Domicillo Tagaytay, 
Km. 58 Gen. E Aguinaldo Highway, 
Tagaytay City, Cavite, Philippines
Store Hours: Mon-Sun: 7:00 am-10:00 pm
Contact nos: 09063501704; 0464134486; 09155038800
Email address: chitsarriola@yahoo.com.ph
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aozorajapanese


For more information and restaurant reviews, check out their Zomato profile:
Aozora Japanese Cafe + Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato



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