Sumo Niku : Unlimited Japanese Barbeque at SM San Lazaro

SM San Lazaro was not the same as before because of the selection of modern restaurants opening one after another. There were newly opened revamped with a modern look, Cafe Mary Grace, Pancake House, Mann Hann, Coco Milk Tea, Kuya J, Samgyupmasarap, Red Table, Hukad, and one I just reviewed, Popeyes in our previous post HERE. Then just after a week, lo and behold, there’s a new restaurant opening up!

That new restaurant is Sumo Niku Unlimited Japanese Barbeque, located at the upper gound floor of SM San Lazaro.

Suprisingly even if it was new, the queue was unexpected and my friend, Pam and I waited for just a short while. We were told by the waiter this: if our queue number is called and we’re not there, then we would go back to zero and get another number. That could possibly be the reason why the queue is short. That was a prompt service control right there!

First impression of the restaurant’s table and wall design reminded me of Yabu with that clean, modern, Japanese style.

The side dishes was lined up cleanly in their freezer at the center end, not out in the open. Super nice, organized, and clean.

I also felt this is a good hangout site for people who love anime too! See that TV screen featuring the music video of Naruto? Apart from that I silently screamed : omg-my-childhood!!, when they played the opening song of my all-time fave anime Fushigi Yuugi.

We were ushered at our table and all side dishes were ready including the buttered corn and mozarella cheese. What really caught my OC attention was this parchment paper on top of the grill! This is the first time I encountered this and this is a huge thumbs up for me.

The problem with other samgyeupsal or barbeque restaurants is their grill actually. Some restaurants have to change the grill from time to time, making the floor area of the restaurant quite busy with waiters walking from and to table per table. Also, after a while the meat sauce, the oily grease, and even a little bit of charcoal mixed to the meat, makes you question was there really differences in meat flavor cos it all ended up tasting the same.

But Sumo Niku is different. They wanted to preserve the grill, the flavors of each of the meat, the cleanliness, and the orderliness of the restaurant with the use of that parchment paper.

Let’s take a look at the side dishes. So aside from buttered corn and mozarella cheese, there’s the usual kimchi, potato balls, sweet potato, cucumber, lettuce, rice, and miso soup.

The not so usual but also yum was the cheese ball (I thought I could only taste that in chinese hotpot), coleslaw, and seaweed. All that unlimited!

Sauces were three if I am correct: the orange sauce is samjang, sesame oil with salt, and teriyaki sauce (which is good combined with mozarella cheese).

We were given this paper were we would check which meat and side dishes are we gonna pick. That’s also one of the reason too why it’s quite orderly here because you don’t have to call the waiter for every single request.

The raw meat was beautifully served in these japanese plates.

I could really taste the difference of the meat variants. We ordered pork belly with teriyaki sauce, pork tenderloin, wagyu beef, U.S. premium beef, and teriyaki chicken.

I only wish there were garlic and radish as a side dish for a healthy balance to the meat.

We were informed that we were given 3 hours unli eating. But I believe you are not supposed to pay the price of indigestion just to savour all the meat. In our case, we didn’t order another set of meat anymore as I am watching my weight. But we did refill on vegetable side dishes. We exit the restaurant feeling happy and healthy without that bloated feeling!

Thank you Sumo Niku for that excellent food experience! For sure, I will be back to try another meat dish, and recommend it even to my friends!