Last December, after reading through so many food blogs, I requested (more like commanded, harhar) JU, RU and Ate T if we could eat at Yabu - The House of Katsu at SM Mall of Asia kasi everybody was talking about it.
I told them that we can have an early dinner before going to the condo. We got there around 6 pm, quite early for dinnertime... and apparently, lahat ng tao ganon din ang iniisip. Sheesh. Hehe. There was already a queue - a long one at that - and the restaurant was full of people! Nakakaloka! I think at that time, Yabu still had a few branches that's why there was so much hype about it.
Anyways highways, I asked the boys na magpa-lista na and to fall in line... while ang Ate ay naglibot-libot muna (the perks of being the first-born, bow. :p) After 20 minutes or so, we were ushered into the restaurant and led to our seats. Grabe, the place was jampacked! Waiters were moving everywhere, people were talking at the top of their voices... basta, the place was veezee! Phew! 'Twas really hard concentrating on what to order, but the attendant assigned to us was so ever patient in answering my questions and providing recommendations on what to order.
Since we were kinda on a budget, I already chose beforehand what to order, taking into consideration other food blogs' recommendation... and these are the dishes we tried:
[From left: Wakame (seaweed salad topped with ebiko) and Edamame (young green soybeans) - Php 175]
For appetizers, you get to choose 2 side dishes from 4 kinds - wakame, edamame, tofu salad and potato salad. Our server suggested getting the wakame and edamame appetizers. Anyway, the tofu and potato salads are usual choices in other restaurants, so we skipped that for another Yabu visit.
[Edamame + pink sea salt = awesome!]
In eating edamame, you just have to get the beans / seeds out of the pod, then dip it into the pink sea salt... hala, ansarap! It has this nutty flavor, and nakakaadik kainin! :) While waiting for the main dishes, yan ang pinapak ko. :) I wanna go back to Yabu just for this. Hehe.
One of the main highlights of eating here is making the sauce for the katsu. Shempre, may tutorial kami. :)
[These are the condiments at each table - consisting of spices, soy sauce, that gorgeous pink sea salt in the open jar, the tonkatsu sauce in the covered jar and the very very delicious goma sesame dressing! ;) ]
Finally, the king of the meal arrives!
[Rosu (pork loin set) - comes with miso soup, 1 cup of rice, a bowl of fruit and unli cabbage - 180 g., Php 360]
I chose this set because, simply put, I love my fat trimmings. Especially on my fried pork. :D We had this for sharing, coz Ate T and I feel stuffed after just a few pieces of meat. We can survive on appetizers and cabbage alone.
[ Unli cabbage - parang unli calls. Hehe.]
Remember that goma sesame dressing included in the condiments tray? That's what you drizzle over the cabbage - which turns the cabbage into one delizioso mush as shown above. Waaaahh! Ansarap talaga ng goma sesame! I think we had 3 refills of the cabbage - and if we weren't in a resto, bro RU would've drank the sauce straight from the bottle - like what he does with KFC and Jollibee gravies! Yessss, it was THAT good! :)
[Yabu special katsudon set - Chicken katsudon: comes with unli cabbage, a bowl of fruit, miso soup and Japanese pickles - Php 330]
JU didn't want to have pork anymore, so he opted for something chicken this time by getting the Chicken Katsudon Set. Well, it's as soft as the pork katsu, but not much difference in taste for me. The breading kasi made all things taste the same, hehe.
While waiting for the bill, I let my cam lens rove around...
[Like I said, 'twas a full night! The flurry of activity never stopped, and the line outside became longer! Maganda yung table namin - on the extreme left end of the resto - hindi mashado daanin ng tao. Alternatively, you can try to get a table at the opposite end of the resto for some privacy. But acoustics wasn't good. Maingay talaga, but I liked the noise somehow... it seemed like everybody was happy with their food. :)]
[ One wall had rows and rows of different sake. I would've loved to drink kaso I have a penchant for sleeping once nakainom. And I'm just too heavy to drag around. Hehe.]
[ Brother RU's one happy camper. Busy pa yung isa kumain eh. :D]
Try Yabu and experience how true katsu should taste like! And please pop that edamame and slather on goma sesame dressing on your unli cabbages for me! :)
What: Yabu - The House of Katsu (menu can be found here)
Where: 2nd flr. Main Building, SM Mall of Asia
How much: Allot around Php 500 per person
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