Southies, Kiwami's Renovated Alabang Space Brings in New Dishes

Kiwami Alabang Town Center 
G/F Corte de las Palmas, Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kiwamiph
Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Monday to Friday); and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Saturday to Sunday)

(SPOT.ph) We’re no longer playing the waiting game. Kiwami has finally reopened at Alabang Town Center (or Town, as Southies will stubbornly defend it). This one-stop shop for all Japanese food fixes reopened in the same location, but this time, in a bigger space and renovated with the same autumnal spirit—the same as Kiwami’s Bonifacio Global City's branch.

Aside from debuting a refreshed look and more square meters (read: this means bigger seating capacity and less likelihood of waiting time), Kiwami’s adding new dishes that have never been served in the Alabang branch.

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Kiwami reopens at Alabang Town Center, bringing KOYO and Hibachi sharing plates

Now available at the Alabang outpost is Kiwami's contemporary sushi hand roll bar KOYO, another notch added to Standard Hospitality Group’s already impressive belt. This homegrown brand does a modern take on sushi, playing with bold, unexpected flavor combinations that are out of the box. Cleverly, they keep the nori wrapped in individual plastic pockets, ensuring that essential snap of crispness when you finally take a bite—because there's no room for soggy seaweed here, especially at Kiwami.

KOYO has also expanded its menu with an exciting lineup of sashimi, creative new maki selections, and a few surprises that promise to keep even the most jaded sushi fans intrigued.

For now, we still firmly stand with our KOYO recommendations from when we first tried it at BGC: Get the Ebi Katsu (P280) and the Spicy Tuna (P195), but this time around, also order the new Unagi Tamago (P270), which has sweet unagi, tamago, sweet potato crisps, garlic aioli, and eel sauce. If you love unagi donburi, this is a bite-sized version you’ll get hooked on just as fast. Also worth trying is the new Chirashi (P240), which has salmon, snapper, tuna, ikura, tamago, kimizu sauce, and poached shrimp in a sesame seed-studded nori sheet. It's a colorful, flavor-packed hand roll inviting you to a seafood party. It has a little bit of everything—perfect for those who want it all.

Other new items available at Kiwami in Alabang are the good-for-sharing platters of grilled proteins—Japanese-style, of course. First up, the Charcoal Chicken (P630), featuring juicy slices of chicken thigh in a tangy pool of ume koshi (plum) dressing. The Pork Chop (P690/300 grams) upgrades its namesake—a fork-tender slab of meat—by slathering it in yuzu garlic sauce and house tare. 

If you would rather order seafood, there’s the herbaceous Blue Marlin (P900/250 grams), which has grilled marlin topped with a field of chimichurri, and the Kampachi (P900/300 grams): two generous slabs of kampachi (yellowtail) collar glazed with house tare and a lime wedge thrown in.

But protein preferences aside, our recommendation is to order the Hanger Steak (P990/220 grams), a glorious, medium-well slab of beef served with black garlic miso sauce and crowned with leeks that have been tossed around in a ginger vinaigrette. This is the dish best paired with good ol’ Japanese White Rice (P85/solo, P140/sharing) to let the flavors of the dish shine through.

For dessert—because obviously no one should leave Kiwami without it—you get Kiwami’s famous Hokkaido Soft Cream. This homegrown brand, beloved for its rich Hokkaido soft serve and that ridiculously addictive lengua de gato cone, has packed up its things and moved from inside Kiwami to a brand-new takeout window just outside, right beside the entrance.

Don’t panic: you can still order Hokkaido Soft Cream while dining in—there's no need to leave the comforts of the air-conditioned space. It's just that now, it’s easier for passersby to drop by for their milky fix and be on their way to run errands.

Here's a look at Kiwami Alabang's new interiors:

Here's a closer look at Kiwami's newly renovated, bigger space in Alabang. The structure is similar to a minka, a traditional Japanese house. The main entrance (from the outside) looks like a hisashi, a Japanese-style entrance with extended eaves offering shade; the window has the same elements as a shoji, a traditional Japanese divider or sliding door, commonly a wooden frame covered in translucent paper. 

The interiors bring the Japanese house vision to life, with warm lighting—including soft-glowing lanterns—casting a cozy glow over a space dominantly using different kinds of wood, from the walls to the tables and chairs. There's also a zen garden-like entryway that sets the mood, anchored by a Japanese maple tree frozen in eternal autumn.

Kiwami ATC is at . For more information, check out Kiwami's Facebook page.

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