When we are cruising, we avoid eating out often.  It is a drain on our cruising "kitty" as restaurants can be very expensive. In fact, there are only a few places I could think of that eating out was cheap. But, in most of these cases, the food being served is awful. That's what you get for being cheap. 

But here in Davao, I can eat out everyday. I will not even feel guilty about it, and get to enjoy the quality of the food being served. Because of its proximity to sea and land produce, Davao is the best place to try local cuisine. Living up to its name of being a multicultural city, you can find all sorts of restaurants - Asian, European, Western, even Middle East.

Since we love Japanese food, there is one restaurant newly opened just minutes from the downtown area. It is called TADAKUMA Japanese restaurant.

Located in the Damosa complex, in Lanang, it is within easy distance for us from the ferry terminal. One of the owners, Manuel Joaquin, is a naturalized Filipino of Japanese descent. Don't let the Filipino name fool you. Manuel was born in Japan to Japanese parents and moved to the Philippines at the age of 14.  His specialty is making noodles. In fact, he started the noodle craze in Manila and opened several franchises called Ramen Tei. When he sold the business, he moved to Davao and opened a small restaurant downtown which I still have to go and try out. I heard it doesn't look very fancy, but the food is very good.

Tadakuma serves excellent sushi and sashimi, in addition to his specialty - the ramen noodles. On my first trip there, I just had to order my favorites - the sashimi and unagi (eel). But this time, I had the pleasure of trying out the local catch - white marlin (I don't know if this is the real name of the fish). I've never had this before in other Japanese restaurants overseas. It is just awesome. Now I have another favorite.

I highly recommend Tadakuma. When you go, don't forget to order his ramen noodles. Manuel makes his own noodles, and nothing compares to home-made noodles. He has brought with him the traditional quality and simplicity inherent in Japanese products.  The place is very nice too, not too big and very clean.