Katsu Night at Yabu The House of Katsu, Robinsons Magnolia

En route to Quezon City, traffic managed to force us to make a pit stop at the newly opened Robinsons Magnolia. Better to be braving traffic & wet roads with a full stomach I say. 

Walking around the mall, we were deciding where to eat dinner when we saw this long line of people waiting to be seated. Hmm... seems that this restaurant warrants a Food Stars visit. Let's see what the fuss was all about.

Yabu House of Katsu, Robinsons Magnolia

At 7pm in the evening, we were already 6th on the waiting list. Wow! They were rocking a full house. Had to wait 30 mins before being seated.

Booth 

Brightly lit & bustling with activity, Yabu looked like a great dinner choice. Our server was helpful enough to answer all our questions & to explain the differences between the dishes. I settled on the Rosu Porkloin Set (180g) while Hubby got the Chicken Katsu Set (180g). 

Menu

For the complete menu with prices, click here.

While waiting for our food to be served, I was happily browsing through the menu. Aside from the cute comic strip inside, there was also an "Anatomy of Katsu" page. Informative and pretty, I was mesmerized. And with the set looking like that, how could I resist. :)

Yabu Promise

They even had this guarantee. Yep, they were that confident.

Katsu Sauce Tutorial

They also had this. They let you mix & mash your own Katsu Sauce. Hmm... definitely something new. 

Mix & Match

To complete your Katsu sauce, they equip each table with this set. The jar on the left was the teriyaki sauce, the orange vial was the chili powder, the yellow vial was the peanut oil & the green one was the pepper. The hippo-like container on the right was salt. The two tall bottles at the back were the salad dressing.

Dry Sesame Seeds

Ground Sesame Seeds + Tons of Teriyaki Sauce + Loads of Chili Powder + Drops of Peanut Oil equals....

My Katsu Sauce :p

Rosu Porkloin Set 180g (Php 405)

Each Tonkatsu Set comes with unlimited Japanese Rice, Miso Soup, Japanese Pickles, unlimited cabbage with sesame dressing and a bowl of fruit. Looked exactly as advertised. 

Chicken Katsu Set 180g (Php 360)

Too exact for my taste. Our dishes looked the same, frighteningly so. I was amazed that our server was still able to tell the difference. 

Anyway, on to the taste.

The chicken was overcooked and dry. Even with tons & tons of the katsu sauce, it was a disappointment. 

The pork fared a bit better but only by a little. The pork was tender & cooked just right. 

Not a fan of miso soup but tried a few spoonfuls. FS Verdict? So-so. 

The Japanese rice was sticky & clean. 

The pineapple was sweet, at least.

So was Yabu worth the wait? Sadly, no it wasn't. If only I could get back the 30 mins wait and just ate at another restaurant, I would. This restaurant is all bells & whistles. They overwhelm your senses with small, cute, pretty things hoping you'll forget about the food itself. The highlight of the meal was actually the cabbage. We had heaps of it, the most vegetable we had in one meal ever.

This is the first time that I felt full but was still unhappy. Sigh.

Won't be coming back anytime soon. 

SERVICE: - Vigilant in making sure that we always had refills of cabbage & rice.

TASTE: - All was too ordinary. Nothing special to offer.

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY: - 'Nuff said.

'Til our next Good Eat!

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