Why The Standard Group is now building its own Japanese brands.
When the Standard Hospitality Group (SHG) opened Yabu in 2011 with nothing but katsu on the menu, people thought the idea was crazy.
‘Everyone thought we were insane for just having katsu,’ said Nicole Concepcion, group brand manager at SHG. ‘They were like, ‘Where’s the sushi?”
Fifteen years later, specializing in a single dish or a focused category has become the group’s signature. At Kiwami, its home for Japanese Master Kitchens, six specialists share one space, each with its own kitchen, equipment, and Japan-trained chefs.
The newest addition, ROEN House of Robata, is different from the rest. Most of Kiwami’s kitchens represent concepts from Japan. ROEN is homegrown.
A fresh take on the familiar
THE group already served yakitori at Kiwami through Hachibei, along with Hibachi, a small in-house grill concept whose hanger steak was ‘booming,’ Concepcion said. The team then spent about eight months in Japan developing a full-fledged robata concept with Chef Yuta Saito, a chef and entrepreneur who combines Japanese roots with French technique.
The group was already familiar with charcoal grilling. It brought Hikiniku to Come, a Japanese concept specializing in charcoal-grilled hamburger steak served over rice, to the Philippines, opening its second branch at SM Megamall in September.
‘They are one of our best franchises we’ve ever worked with,’ Concepcion said. ‘We consider ourselves charcoal experts because of them.’
At ROEN, the grilling techniques remain traditional. What sets the concept apart are the sauces Saito developed specifically for its menu and charcoal-grilled dishes.
‘We did not want to touch any of the Japanese grilling techniques,’ Concepcion said. ‘It’s the pairings of the flavors. That’s what makes it modern.’
Building its own brands is a deliberate move for the group.
‘Sometimes we just need to make our own concept because we know what’s going to work for the local market,’ she said.
A kitchen built for sharing
ROEN takes its name from two Japanese words: ro, meaning hearth, and en, meaning feast. The concept is designed around how Filipinos like to eat.
‘Filipinos are family-centric,’ Concepcion said. ‘They want to share everything.’
The restaurant operates two grills fueled by bamboo Ogatan charcoal: one for modern yakitori and another for larger plates designed for sharing.
The Butabara is a compelling reason to visit. Thick slices of pork belly are grilled until their edges turn crisp, and the fat renders into something almost buttery. A garlic-lime sauce cuts through the richness just enough to make you reach for another skewer. Of everything on the table, it was the dish everyone kept returning to.
The Yakisoba is the surprise. A plate of noodles is easy to overlook on a menu built around the grill, but this one is a revelation: balanced and never heavy, yet full of flavor, with every strand soaking up the smoke and sauce. It comes a close second to the Butabara.
The hanger steak, carried over from Hibachi, is tender, with a clean, smoky char from the Ogatan. A glossy, savory-sweet glaze reminiscent of teriyaki provides much of the flavor, while chimichurri adds a bright, herbal contrast.
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The Tebasaki, grilled chicken wings coated in Saito’s onion-milk sauce, comes off the grill perfectly cooked. The Beef Sukiyaki Spinach Enoki roll, meanwhile, is meant to be dipped in raw egg and soy sauce, following the Japanese sukiyaki tradition. The egg lends each bite a silky texture.
Chef Minehiro Ishii, Saito’s sous chef, manned the grill during the media preview at Kiwami SM Mall of Asia on October 7, 2026.
A low-risk lab
ROEN opened at SM Mall of Asia on October 1, followed by Kiwami Alabang Town Center on October 15 and Kiwami BGC on October 29. The staggered rollout allows the team to apply lessons from one branch to the next.
That includes guest feedback, which staff members summarize after every service and review each morning.
Whether ROEN will eventually move beyond Kiwami remains an open question.
‘My dream for the future is to have standalones for both Koyo and ROEN,’ Concepcion said.
For now, Kiwami serves the purpose for which it was built.
‘It’s kind of a place where we can test the waters,’ she said. ‘Not much risk.’
The group that once had to defend a katsu-only menu is now testing its own concepts alongside the Japanese brands it brought to the Philippines. If ROEN succeeds, the next master kitchen may not need to come from Japan at all.