MANILA -- Neighborhood restaurants dot the south of Manila, with main roads and streets filled with every major cuisine that you can imagine. Among them is Kaijo Steaks and Ramen, which has joined the fray in BF Resort’s Gloria Diaz Street, specializing in Japanese fusion cuisine.

With a painted wall denoting its offerings, Kaijo’s space is decorated with wood accents, giving it a modern yet homey vibe.

With a name that translates to "venue" in Japanese, the restaurant offers versions of most of Japan’s culinary staples -- starting with steak.

Wagyu cravings? For less than P400, diners get a one-fourth kilo of Grade 4 Wagyu cooked to their specifications served atop a lava rock. Tender, simply seasoned with salt and pepper, each order comes with side dishes (rice, salad, mashed potato, etc.), and a set of three housemade sauces – a potent chili sauce, a creamy gravy, and Kaijo’s special steak sauce which was a delightful interplay of sweet, salty and sour, garlicky and onion-y. I couldn’t get enough of the sauce.

Ramen is the other forte of the house, and we tasted its two house specialties.

Gomoku Ramen veers away from the usual shoyu or shio ramen (which are in the menu) that use a pork broth. This puts the emphasis on seafood with a light broth flavored with shiitake and various seafood.

Their other specialty ramen, meanwhile, is the Karubi Ramen. Using pork (and beef) broth but seasoned with beef cuts and veggies, I've dubbed this, the "sukiyaki ramen." Imagine the sweet-salty taste of sukiyaki (sans the dark broth) with thin wagyu slices and chewy handmade noodles. It’s a particular bowl that I’ve never tasted anywhere else but in Kaijo and I found it strangely intriguing, and definitely something that I would go back there for.

If ramen and steak are not your thing, don’t fret as Kaijo also serves donburi, gyoza, curry, and salad, with maki and the like coming soon.