On April 30, 2025, Fukuya Japanese Restaurant inside Festival Mall closed down after having its final day of operations which saddened a lot of loyal customers. At 8:41 in morning of that same day, the restaurant announced via social media that they were going to close down which went as follows:
It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing our last day of operations today. We would like to thank our valued customers whom we consider a part of the Fukuya family for your patronage and support since we opened our doors in 1995. We truly cherish the memories we have of you and it is our pleasure to have served you. To our generations of patrons, thank you for your kind words and loyalty to Fukuya. You have made our journey all the more fulfilling. May God bless you all!
For the newcomers reading this, Fukuya Japanese Restaurant first opened at SM Southmall in Las Piñas City in the mid-1990s and my first time ever to eat at their place was in 1997. They eventually opened in Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa some years later and lasted there until April 30 this year. Be aware that a change of ownership of Festival Mall took place months ago which might be related to Fukuya’s closure.
Being fond of Japanese food, I can say that the demise of Fukuya Japanese Restaurant is very unfortunate. To be clear, the number of Japanese restaurants and other businesses selling certain types of Japanese food at Festival Mall has increased over the past several years. In fact, there are certain Japanese restaurants there that sold meals at notably higher prices when compared to similar offerings from Fukuya Japanese Restaurant. Clearly Fukuya had a lot of competitors at Festival Mall alone.
More on Fukuya, there are best known for the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki (read my old article by clicking here) which was always served freshly cooked, very flavorful and filling. I had their Okonomiyaki many times and always had a great taste backed with satisfaction. I also tried Okonomiyaki at other Japanese restaurants at Festival Mall but none of them ever came close to what Fukuya had.
Fukuya also served Futo Maki/Futomaki, Yakisoba, ramen, Bento meals, Tempura, sushi, sashimi, Teppanyaki, Udon, Soba and a lot more. They also had value meals to accommodate customers with limited funds.
While the pandemic is over and the Philippine economy is growing, there are still a lot of internal and external economic forces that make operating businesses challenging. As for the rental fees of Festival Mall under the new owner, I heard allegations that the rates went up. Apart from Fukuya, I noticed a local printing and photocopying business there closed down recently, and I used to have documents photocopied there.
Now that Fukuya Japanese Restaurant is gone, customers who are looking for Japanese meals that are affordable will have to look elsewhere. As of this writing, Fukuya has not updated their Facebook page since April 30, 2025. While their FB page is still active, I can only wonder if the business owners could be planning a revival of Fukuya someday. You can visit their FB page by clicking https://www.facebook.com/FukuyaJapaneseRestaurantFestivalMall
For those of you reading this, let me ask you – were you fond of eating at Fukuya Japanese Restaurant? Did you enjoy their Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki? How was the quality of the food they served you the last time you ate there? What do you think is the main reason behind the closure of Fukuya Japanese Restaurant?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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Author Carlo Carrasco 