Wazzup Pilipinas!
Yabu : The House of Katsu boasts of authentic Japanese Katsu that is so delicious and soft, it literally melts in your mouth.
I got to try out their Seafood Katsu set 2 composed of Salmon, Black Tiger Prawn, Crab and Oyster for only Php 545 during their simple inauguration and restaurant blessing at their newest branch located at the Block of SM City North EDSA.
A priest was invited to bless the entire place of which included even the people working for that branch. From the restaurant lobby entrance, to the kitchen and even all the way inside the bathroom, that was filled with write-ups about Yabu: The House of Katsu, the priest generously sprinkled holy water and uttered a few prayers.
It is a tradition for every home and establishment to have the place blessed to get rid of evil spitits and to invite good vibes and all the luck in the world, but after tasting the food at Yabu : The House of Katsu, I really do believe the restaurant owners have nothing to worry about. Their great food is more than enough to carry them towards success.
Yabu crew members all lined up holding lighted candles in preparation for the blessing of the restaurant
Yabu CEO and President Mr. John Concepcion led
the the ribbon cutting together with SM
North Edsa AVP of Operations Architect Renee Bacani and Corporate Director Mr.Gerry Santos.
Our newly-found acquaintances at the next table: Fashion
Bloggers Kelly Medina, Ava Te-Zabat, Tracy Ayson, Paul Chuapoco, Aisa
Ipac, Ana Gonzales, Sarah Tirona and Bestie Konisis
Bloggers were all smiles after trying out the katsu at Yabu! We have here Darryl, Patrick, Florencio, Ross, Ria, Mish, Kim and Cha
The lovely Marketing people from Yabu: PR and Events Specialist Ms. Erika Lim, Brand manager Ms. Denise Cabotage, and Yabu Brand Specialist Ms. Candice Zialcita.
Yabu : The House of Katsu was voted as Esquire Philippines' "Dish of the Year" last year and is listed by Philippines Tatler as one of the Top 100 restaurants in the Philippines. These recognitions give you added assurance that you will be getting excellent quality foods brought to you by a top restaurant.
Katsu, is an abbreviation of the word "katsuretsu" which means cutlet referring to a slice of meat that is breaded and deep-fried. It is considered as one of the classic dishes in Japanese cuisine, and Yabu : The House of Katsu is where you will find great Katsu meals that have been elevated into a higher level of culinary art.
The presentation of their food brings out an appetite already. I guarantee that you'll fall in love once you've tasted their meals. Add to that their specialty spices, sauces and other condiments to bring out a more flavourful dining experience.
After taking a bite of their specialty katsu dishes, you will surely come back to the nearest Yabu restaurant to try out some more of their sumptuous varieties of katsu.
An assortment of condiments are available on your table. Just be sure to ask for assistance from their friendly crew to know where and how to properly use them in your meals.
The restaurant is also so elegantly designed with color combinations that are soothing to the eye. The branch at SM City North EDSA has five of these huge framed black and white manga or Japanese comics displayed on one side of their walls.
The other wall seems to look like a collection of "masu" (wooden, box-like cups) used to drink Sake, Japanese rice wine.
Aside from the masu, sake can be served in other variety of cups; like the "sakazuki" (a flat, saucer-like cup) and the "ochoko" (a small, cylindrical cup).
Members of the Yabu crew that day were wearing shirts of different designs that were all pertaining to anything and everything related to Yabu and the Japanese dishes served in the restaurant. It was kind of cool to look at because it adds more interest to the place when you get to read and look at the different designs. The crew also adds positive vibes to the place because they were all eager to help you out especially in the explanation of how to use the assorted condiments available on your table.
Below is a video of Jam, one of the crew members, giving us a brief explanation on how to use the condiments.
The katsu at Yabu "is so crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, you can slice it with chopsticks." Indeed they are!
Though I ordered the Seafood Katsu Set 2, my friends ordered the other katsu meat dishes and they will swear that the breaded, deep-fried delicacies are truly "crispy on the outside and soft on the inside" as advertised. Noone used a knife to slice the katsu since the chopsticks could easily slice a piece from the whole katsu.
They also serve you with the finest Japanese rice know as "Koshihikari".
Their coating is made from fresh panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), everyday in their restaurant, ensuring that the bread flakes are long, light and crispy.
The oil used is 100% natural canola oil, which contains omega 3, zero trans fat and zero cholesterol. This oil keeps the breading crisp, while allowing flavors to come through.
They use local pork that comes from trusted partners that is delivered fresh to their kitchen, never frozen. They also use Kurobuta, US premium pork, also known as the Berkshire Black Pig. This pork is heavily marbled, pink and known as the “kobe beef” of pork.
For the non-meat lovers, they also source fresh seafood both locally and abroad. Their oysters are huge and succulent, sourced directly from Hiroshima Japan; their scallops are sourced from the United States.
Yabu also has the expertise of Chef Kazuya Takeda as their partner on all things katsu. Chef Kazuya is the head chef of Tonkatsu Takeshin, a popular tonkatsu restaurant in Tokyo. Chef Kazuya has graciously and generously passed on his knowledge of katsu to their chefs to ensure that each and every katsu they make is delicious and perfect.
I would love to go back and try their other katsu dishes and do a focused food review this time. I've only tried one dish so I couldn't really give Yabu a more comprehensive and detailed review and rating since I have yet to try their other dishes. We were more concentrated on mingling with the other guests that night that I failed to catch the names of the delightful looking dishes my seatmates were enjoying.
I was extremely satisfied with the Seafood Katsu so I would very much like to be invited again to try out the other varieties of Katsu.
Meantime, we were also treated with their only dessert available The Lava Cake!
I tried the one with a chocolate ice cream on top of super moisted lava cake. For a few seconds, I think I forgot my name that night.
It was surely an awesome way to immortalize facts and reviews about Yabu - right inside the comfort of a restroom...hehehe.
Below is a video of some of the crew members greeting everyone for Wazzup Pilipinas. I would like to thank them all for allowing me to take videos of them. Now they are among the stars in my blog, just like they are the stars of Yabu : The House of Katsu since they will be the primary faces serving the customers.
As what the priest said during the blessing, the people manning the branch are to be considered the greatest asset of any establishment. Even high-quality great tasting food may turn bland or sour if the customers are not happy with the service provided by the crew and management.
The crew who interact with the customers could also help in elevating the standards of the restaurants since customers tend to give better ratings and recommend the place to friends and relatives if they were well taken cared of during their visit.
Better go on over at the official website of Yabu : The House of Katsu at : http://yabu.ph/
or check out more of Yabu : The House of Katsu from their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/yabuhouseofkatsu
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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