Yabu: House of Katsu

Calling all Japanese food lovers, you might want to experience Yabu: House of Katsu 

Located at 2nd Floor The Atrium, SM Megamall,
EDSA corner Julia Vargas Avenue,
Mandaluyong City
Tel. No. (0927) 398-7962, 576-3900
Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

photo from spot.ph

Glimpse:

(SPOT.ph) Katsu devotees will have a new place to call home: Yabu: House of Katsu at the second floor of The Atrium, SM Megamall promises to give katsu fans more reasons to remain infatuated with the popular Japanese dish. Since it opened on November 11, Yabu has become a lunch and dinner destination for people eager to try the restaurant's Chicken Katsudon and Curry Katsu.

What makes this spot different from your run-of-the-mill katsu house? The kitchen at Yabu is helmed by katsu specialist, Chef Kazuya Takeda of Tonkatsu Takeshin, one of the best tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo. Chef Takeda taught the Yabu kitchen staff how to dish out katsu like you've never had it before: the juicy pork and beef cutlets, succulent prawns and other seafood are covered in a light coating of fresh panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and are fried to a crispy finish, with meat so tender and soft that you don't need knives to cut them into smaller bites. You can dip them in Yabu's signature katsu sauce—you'll be given a serving of toasted sesame seeds which you can grind with your own mini mortar and pestle, then mix into the katsu sauce—but each piece of katsu is tasty enough to do without.

All of Yabu's katsu sets are served with Japanese rice, hot miso soup, unlimited shredded cabbage and a bowl of fruit. If you feel like indulging, the staff will recommend Yabu's specialty dish, theKurobota Pork Set (P515 for 120 grams), which flaunts succulent cutlets of premium pork. "So far, people have been ordering a little of everything," shares Yabu's Isay Roque, pointing out that the menu lists only katsu dishes and won't have sushi or sashimi anytime soon.