What happened to “Takenotsuka” after the COVID-19 crisis⁉ Undercover interview on “Little Manila” today [Daytime Edition

During GW when the yen is weak, enjoy “cross-cultural exchange” in a nearby place!

Takenotsuka is known as a nightlife district called “Little Manila” with a forest of Filipino pubs in front of the station. However, there are rumors that the number of pubs has drastically decreased due to the COVID-19 crisis…. I wonder how Filipino mothers are doing (though I don’t know any of them). And what about the Filipino restaurants that used to be in the area? I couldn’t visit them when I lived in Tokyo and moved away, so I made a long trip from Osaka.

I got off at Takenotsuka station for the first time in years! What’s with all the modernization! I was suddenly greeted with a rude accusation. The station was renovated in 2010, wasn’t it? It’s so clean, it’s kind of sad.

At any rate, I went to a crowded area of Filipino pubs at the east exit of the station and found that the signboard is still there! It must be feverish at night when the neon lights are turned on. I was relieved to see that it was still alive.

Eating up a storm at “New Hungry,” a Filipino food buffet

First, we went to our first destination, New Hungry. It is located in a maniacal place behind Adachi-ku Biological Garden. It takes about 15 minutes to walk there, so I took a short cut by getting off the bus bound for Hanabatake Danchi from the east exit of Takenotsuka Station at “Hokima Naka Dori Street.

This place is usually open as a snack bar, pub, or restaurant, but they have a buffet only on Saturdays and Sundays. It was around 1:00 p.m. when I arrived, and I was worried if the food had already been taken away and there were only remnants, but there were zero customers. But there were no customers…even on a Saturday.

The restaurant’s colorful interior and Filipino ingredients for sale made it a truly tropical eatery. The restaurant is run by a single mom, and four kinds of dishes are standing by in front of the counter. When I asked if I could take pictures, she opened the lid on all of them. How kind!

First, let’s try the sinigang. Pork belly is stewed with the whole cartilage, and you can eat it down to the bone. The owner of the restaurant said, “I buy the whole pork and simmer it for 3 hours! I buy the whole pork chunks and simmer them for 3 hours! Vegetables are spinach and okra. The vegetables include spinach, okra, and rice water, which gives the dish a thick consistency.

The potatoes in the caldereta are flaky and sweet. Mama says she can only cook with potatoes and onions grown in Hokkaido. She is quite a stoic cook. She uses 3 kg of onions for every 5 kg of meat, and stir-fries them until they become thick and tender. He also blends three kinds of soy sauce. He says he needs a rich Filipino soy sauce to achieve the ideal taste.