Although it began ‘soft’ operations more than a month ago, SumoSam only formally opened yesterday with the presence of two of its young founders, Raymund Magdaluyo and actor-turned-entrepreneur Marvin Agustin. Located at the ground floor of Ayala Center Cebu’s The Terraces, SumoSam’s first franchise in the Visayas included the entry of their Cebu partners Glecy Lopez-Go and Shanna Lopez.
(L-R): Raymund Magdaluyo, Shanna Lopez, Glecy Lopez-Go, and Marvin Agustin
Their branch at The Terraces is their first in the Visayas and the biggest in the country so far, with a seating capacity of 120.
SumoSam, as the name suggests, is a Japanese-American Restaurant truly reflected by its interior design featuring a unique ambiance of stained wooden planks, textured paints, and colorful light boxes. Playful decor of sumo wrestlers captured in various poses are also a visual treat.
SumoSam ceiling
According to Magdaluyo, their goal with SumoSam is to “make Japanese food or present it in a more formal or more international way”. He claims the strength of SumoSam is “bastardizing Japanese cuisine, (laughs)”. SumoSam is one of the more popular Japanese food chains in the country today and it is positioned to be “not too expensive but still able to provide quality”, he added. The menu is very extensive with around 140 items and each one actually has a photo with it so when you’re browsing SumoSam’s menu, you’ll feel as if you’re viewing a photo album. This was done for “people not to be scared of Japanese food”. Due to their success in SumoSam, they opened spin-offs from SumoSam such as John and Yoko, featuring cosmopolitan-Japanese cuisine, Marciano’s, featuring Italian-New Yorker cuisine and Mr. Kurosawa, featuring European-Japanese cuisine.
Raymund Magdaluyo with SumoSam’s textured walls as his background
Marvin Agustin
Agustin further explained that SumoSam is a “family-oriented restaurant”. Realizing their desire to expand and reach out to untapped markets by opening new stores, he revealed that they are opening a branch each in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and one more in Davao next year. For Cebu, they are looking at opening one of their spin-off brands at the Phase 2B of Ayala Center which is currently under construction. In the next two years, the company is planning to open 15 more branches on top of the 10 stores that are currently operating. They are also now open to franchising. Typically, investment on a franchise would cost P5 million to P7 million depending on the size of the store.
As operations normalize, they also plan to introduce new items that will “utilize Cebuano ingredients”. And now that SumoSam has finally invaded The Terraces, they are hoping to put more smiles on the faces of the diners in Cebu. Not only because SumoSam is at last a quick drive away, but also because now, you can choose over the wide array of sumptuous meals prepared skillfully by SumoSam’s highly-trained chefs and served by modish and vibrant attendants. To date, SumoSam confirms that the fusion of Western and Asian cuisines can work.
SumoSam Red Ice Tea. Bottomless at P98.
Chicken Teriyaki and Mangoes Pizza. P288.
SumoSam’s Pride: mixed greens with grilled prawns, mango, caramelized walnuts on Citrus Miso Vinaigrette. P278.
Fried Chicken & Pork Gyoza. P228.
Grilled Chicken Teriyaki. P268.
Victory Float: tuna, salmon, kani sashimi, California, Philadelphia, Dynamite roll. P858.
*Prices are subject to change without prior notice
**Author’s note: Prices may appear to be quite steep at first look but each item actually has huge servings, enough to serve 2-3 people, depending on the appetite of course.
So what are you waiting for? Head on over now to SumoSam Cebu, located at the ground level of The Terraces garden row (in between TGI Friday’s and Banana Leaf)! SumoSam also has branches at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Rockwell Power Plant Mall, MarQuee Mall, TriNoma, ABS-CBN, Nuvali, Greenbelt 3 and Abreeza.
