What's your favorite Katsu place in town? YABU!!!

Yabu, duh. I cannot describe how they perfectly cook their melt-in-your-mouth katsus, you have to be there to taste for yourself. Luckily, Jake's mom loves to recommend places where we can eat and Yabu was just one of those happy discoveries. You wouldn't expect to find such a hidden gem of an authentic katsu place right smack in the middle of Megamall, but here we are--I'm already anticipating my next Yabu fix.

First up: the ambiance. Since it's in a very, very busy mall, Yabu can't exactly sell itself on the basis of being a fine dining katsu place. They also cannot go into that fast food concept ala Tokyo Tokyo which would ruin the whole point of serving top of the line katsus. However, they managed to mix an elegant vibe while throwing in some funky casualness in the form of the Anime-ish wall dividers and the loud slogan shirts of the staff. Add to that the impeccable and EXCELLENT, and I do mean excellent service of the waiters and manager, and it's pretty much a perfectly acceptable date place. I love how the manager would always check on our food, and once he even made sure the waiters gave us a free refill of miso soup when we spilled it. That, and the ever so attentive waiters offering to refill your rice/cabbage/and iced teas just makes the place worth the hassle of going to Megamall on a sale weekend.

I am a very ma-condiment eater. I don't know how else to put it but I always need to have a dip or a sauce to go with my food. So, I really appreciate Yabu's sesame dressing which I practically pour on my cabbage salad. There's also an oil-based spicy dressing along with some Japanese-y seasoning.

And my favorite part: grinding the sesame seeds to make your own katsu sauce! They will give you a wooden pestle that you'll need to grind the seeds with. I have finally figured out the perfect technique where you do it in a circular motion while bearing down on the seeds. 

And then, you pour the sauce depending on your taste. I find three heapfuls of sauce enough for one serving of 120 grams of katsu.

I ordered the chicken katsu set again and this is where you'll appreciate the price: for Php 325 you get 120 grams of chicken katsu (THE BEST YOU'LL EVER TASTE), unlimited Japanese rice, miso soup, unlimited cabbage, and a bowl of fruit. I can barely finish the 120 grams by myself. I had to ask Jake, who ordered the 180 grams at Php 360, to finish the remaining two slices for me. They also serve 90 grams at Php 310 if you want to eat light.

It is worth every penny. Every Japanese restaurant I've been to always serve crappy katsus and rely on their sushis and other Japanese menu staple. Yabu finally met my criteria for an awesome katsu experience. Since we've always ordered the chicken katsu, I can't wait to schedule another katsu date so I can finally try their Rosu katsu (and can't remember the kind of pork for the super expensive premium katsus). Happy times!