MAUNDY Thursday and Good Friday were days to explore the old neighborhood to check which restaurant is open that offers the food we allow ourselves to eat.
I was heading for the Korean restaurant at the Victoria Plaza car park, being very sure that it's open since Korean restaurants are open throughout Holy Week, I realized that a long-time favorite but now rarely visited was also open: Arigatou Akiko, one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in Davao City that survived the years. The waitress said it's been 17 years.
Anyway, so there I was evening of Maundy Thursday for my Holy Week meatless meal. I had the miso soup, age tofu, and yasai tempura (vegetable tempura), an all-veggie treat that cost me less than P300.
The following evening, Edith and Kenny were raving to eat out again, and so we met up anew and this time I had the miso soup and kakiage tempura (seafood and vegetable). Kenny got the Shio Ramen (seafood and corn), while Edith got the vegetable salad.
Akiko still delivers the real Japanese taste there without going overboard in price, and apparently it continues to have the patronage of many as it was full that Maundy Thursday and had just emptied when we arrived for late dinner on Good Friday.
I should keep this restaurant in my regular route. There is nothing like the taste of a long-ago era when Davao was still quiet and less stressful. Even its interiors is a reminder of those good old days.
We're raring to try their sukiyaki soon, as we are breaking our no-meat diet today.
Arigatou Akiko is that old wooden restaurant between Ahfat 1 and the Korean grocery along the row of Sen Ton Whan at the carpark of Victoria Plaza.