Tabemashou at My South Hall by Chef Josh Boutwood - A Review

Footsteps have become dragging; stomachs have started growling. Tired and exhausted with all the walking, we decided to pause for a while to refill our famished spirits with some good food. In pursuit of a new taste, we stumbled upon this newly opened food hall that values innovation over tradition.

About My South Hall

My South Hall is a food hub located at the lower ground of S, Maison, Marina Bay corner Seaside Boulevard in Mall of Asia Complex. It houses eight stalls curated to bring people closer to the global flavors everyday. Visually-pleasing and palatable American, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese goodness can be expected on your tables. Food in their menu seemed traditional but these are done with innovations to deliver new gastronomic experiences to everyone.

These stalls include WCKD Milk Tea, Roast’d, Golden Treasures, Juicy Fresh Juice Bar, Chix, Roma, Tabemashou and Seoul Hotpot. My South Hall is a brain child of Chef Josh Boutwood, who is also a chef of the Helm, Savage Manila, The Test Kitchen and Burgers and Bits.

The Place

Literally a place for everyone!

More than two hundred (200) people can comfortably sit and dine in the innovative food hall with an industrial interior and atmosphere. Remarkable international flavors can be served all at once. Their kitchens behind the glasses will surely awaken your senses as you can see the food being prepared, the ones ready to be devoured on display; not to mention the aroma coming at you. The next thing that you know, you’re famished and craving for a gastronomic experience of it.

Further, what I love about My South Hall is that cashless transaction is also accepted.

Something Japanese at My South Hall

Something Taiwanese and Italian? Check out Roast’d and Roma!

The Service

One of the many things that I liked about this food hall is their service. Their staff attends promptly to the customers’ needs and requests. Also, I admire how wide and genuine their smiles are when interacting with us. The manager even roams around and gladly serves the customers himself, too, sharing his smile to everyone. Though they specialize food from different parts of the world, they serve it and welcome us with the Filipino kind of hospitality.

The Food

Since Japanese food is always the first on my what-to-eat list when pigging out, we chose Tabemashou over anything else.

Tabemashou is one of the eight stalls inside my South Hall which specializes on Japanese cuisine especially skewers, sushi and ramen – the all-time Japanese favorites!

We ordered Roasted beef and spring onion roll (Php 110.00), Chicken Wings (Php 125.00), Salmon Spicy Maki (Php 275.00), Shrimp Aburi (Php 225.00) and Pepper Beef Rice (Php 225.00). Preparation took 20 to 25 minutes. It took a while but the food is really worth the wait.

The Skewers

Roasted Beef and Spring Onion Roll

The skewers that we ordered were served first. The chicken wings and roasted beef enticingly glistened and the aroma deliciously lingered in the air. The meat were roasted to perfection. The spring onions provided a crispy feeling complementing the tenderness of the beef rolled around it. Serving is honestly little but it does taste heaven.

The Sushi

Can you resist these Shrimp Aburi?

My most favorite among the food that we ordered were the sushi. We had four options: California Maki, Shrimp Aburi, Salmon Spicy Maki and Tori Salmon Maki. I’m not really a fan of salmon but the Salmon Spicy Maki looked really fine on the menu so I ordered plate of it and of course, the Shrimp Aburi. These didn’t disappoint. Each plate has eight flavorful and overloaded pieces of sushi that gave my taste buds somewhat a roller coaster ride experience.

Shrimp aburi has minced carrots and cucumber wrapped in sushi rice with a slice of shrimp laid flat on top of each. It is dripped with cheesy spicy Japanese mayonnaise and unagi sauce and sprinkled with minced spring onions and caviar. The aburi-style gave the sushi a different texture and taste. The tops were torched giving it a crispy feeling and a slightly tangy taste perfected with the cheesy spicy and sweetness of the unagi sauce.

Salmon Spicy Maki

The Salmon Spicy Maki is rolled on crispy tempura bits topped with crispy and fresh salmon mixed with spicy Japanese mayonnaise. The variety of textures and spicy taste give a unique sushi experience.

Prawn Tempura

My Japanese gastronomic adventure will never be complete without the the prawn tempura on the table. It is best served and dipped into the special Japanese soy sauce specially made for tempura. Tabemashou’s tempura is pretty stuffed with prawns and there’s not much breading.

Pepper Beef Rice

For the main course, we had the pepper beef rice. The Japanese rice is topped with tender, tasty and peppery beef, corn bits and spring onion. Serving seemed small but it’s seriously heavy.

The Verdict

If you’re looking for a place to eat near Mall of Asia in Pasay City, My South Hall is definitely one of the best places to be. You can explore new international tastes and you got a lot of options in one place. Value for money varies in each store but for Tabemashou, it’s 3/5 for the skewers and 4/5 with the rest.

There will surely be a next time since I’d love to try the food and drinks from the other stalls in it. How about you? Have you tried the food from any of these eight food stalls? Tell us your experience!

Tabemashou at My South Hall by Chef Josh Boutwood – A Review

About My South Hall

The Place

The Service