Now, I've been to the gardens, on and off over the years. It was, back in the day, a very tranquil spot to just go sit and relax. And the fee for entry, while it gradually crept up from the 5 pesos it was back when I first moved here, always sort of kept pace with coming in between $1.50-2 as the value of the peso changed. At some point it jumped a bit, still not ridiculous, but these days it's 200 pesos, or a shade over $3. In the scheme of things, that's nothing for a beautiful walk in these gardens, but they've also become a real tourist attraction, and during the day, at times, the place is filled with selfie sticks and screaming children, making it a far less attractive spot to go and relax.
As to the restaurant itself, I'd only been once before, back in 2008, so it was time for a revisit. At the time, it was one of the more expensive meals to be had, particularly for Japanese food, and perhaps even more so, because we didn't have sushi that time around, which tends to carry a higher price tag. We'd shelled out, for lunch, 75 pesos, at the time, the equivalent of $23 apiece. So, how would I fare, this time around?
I ordered up their six-piece nigiri combo, which was to have 2 pieces of tuna, 2 of salmon, 1 white fish, and 1 prawn. No prawn. A shrug from the waiter, "it comes out however it comes out"... well, no, it doesn't say on the menu, "sushiman's choice of six", it lists what's in the combo. Shrug. In addition, two pieces of salmon skin, and six of octopus. The nigiri are oddly setup on the menu, some come in twos, some come in sixes. Whatever. All... good. The fish is fresh, the octopus is tender. The rice is kind of bland and loose, it tends to fall apart when picking up the pieces.
Given the amount of sushi I ordered, I decided on just a tempura appetizer as a "main course". A nice mix of perfectly crispy vegetables and prawns. Tasty dipping sauce. Definitely a cut above the sushi.
Still, the place is packed with tourists, and not to disparage tourists at all, but it was a lot of yelling in English, French, German, and Portuguese, and not so much Spanish, as people tried to place orders and waiters did their best to understand them. Kids running around careening off of tables. Not the tranquil spot that it once was.
And the price-tag - the above food, a bottle of water, tip, and again, one must pay the garden's entrance fee to get to the restaurant, came in at a shade over 2100 pesos, or almost $35. Yup, it's still expensive. And there are far better Japanese restaurants in the city, particularly for sushi, with better service, and, given what it's become, better ambiance, despite the lovely view. read more