I’ve eaten at various Japanese restaurants in Metro Manila, and I’ve eaten at almost every Japanese restaurant in BGC. The sheer number of these restaurant chains in BGC makes it safe to say that this city is a hotspot for Japanese cuisine and its enthusiasts.

However, some of these Japanese restaurants are simply labeled as that to earn the benefits of being a “Japanese” restaurant without actually meeting the stellar quality of Japanese food.

I came into this restaurant, expecting a great new brunch experience, considering how many good reviews it has on Google. But boy, I was hit in the head by reality so badly.

Is it worth eating at Mogu by Chef Seiji?

No. Spend your money elsewhere. The quality of the food, the serving size, and the service of the restaurant is simply not worth it.

How much does it cost to eat at Mogu by Chef Seiji?

It will cost each person at least 800-1,000 pesos to dine here. This only includes an entree and a drink with no appetizer or dessert.

Don’t believe me yet? Simply look at the food that we ate

Tonkatsu Lunch Set

This was so bad, down to the last bit of breading I ate. I had to pack this food for takeout because I couldn’t stomach eating it anymore even though I was really hungry that day. And I finished it at home because I felt bad spending my hard-earned money on this.

This was almost all breading and barely any meat. The katsu sauce was so watered down, and they didn’t even bother to serve us the meal warm. The texture felt like it was heated in a microwave, and the breading made it so much worse.

It made me question why I didn’t just eat somewhere I’ve tried and tested.

Rating: 0.5/5

Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Set

This meal set, as my girlfriend said, was “the saddest meal we’ve ever eaten.”

Not only is the chicken teriyaki dry, but I’d also like to talk about that Miso soup and the salad. The miso soup clearly didn’t have enough miso in them. How could a Japanese restaurant eff up a miso soup? And I get that salads are fairly simple dishes, but that dressing and the vegetables were a sloppy mess.

Here’s a silver lining: The chicken teriyaki isn’t worse than the tonkatsu.

Rating: 1/5

Salmon & Tuna Sashimi

I’m no expert on Japanese food, but shouldn’t sashimi be served fresh? Unless you want to give your customers intestinal worms. We were served weeks old sashimi and they tasted wrong.

Spoiler alert: their wasabi is not real wasabi either.

Rating: 0.5/5

Crispy Spicy salmon maki

What makes this particular dish stand out as the worst one we had that day? Well, first off, the spicy salmon maki was neither crispy nor spicy.

The sushi rice didn’t even have any rice vinegar, nor did it taste like sushi rice at all. And they also served us fake wasabi.

We finished this food because of only two reasons. We’ve already spent money on it, and it would be unwise to waste food. The good news is that this dish didn’t give us intestinal problems. Yet.

Rating: 0/5

TLDR Version: Worst Japanese Restaurant in BGC I’ve eaten at is Mogu.

When you’ve eaten at almost every Japanese restaurant in BGC, it’s easy to tell that many of them have high standards of quality, and their chefs pride themselves in their work. But it seems to me like this particular branch of Mogu didn’t quite get the memo.

Do yourselves a favor, fellow diners; don’t eat here. Spend your money on better restaurants out there.

Author’s note: This article will be updated in the near future for my list of Japanese Restaurants to try in BGC.