i've read several reviews on the famous katsu resto, saboten, which unfortunately i have not yet tried. i'd have to settle for similar places until i get to singapore or hongkong or better yet japan for it.
on 11.11.11 yabu opened in megamall. it has a similar concept. basically, a restaurant that specializes in katsu, deep fried breaded pork, fish/seafood or chicken. so i told myself i had to try it. here's the famous sesame seeds which you need to grind before mixing with the tonkatsu sauce.
my mixed seafood katsu with hire - pork seafood and veggies. served with bottomless shredded cabbage with either sesame dressing or ponzu.
there are two types of tonkatsu, hire which is tenderloin and rosu which has a small amount of fat. i was apprehensive about the hire but i thought wrong, it was extremely tender that one would think it has fat in it. it is indeed a healthier alternative. the mixed seafood is made up of dory, scallop and ebi. my first plate was a miss, the dory was uncooked in the middle. they replaced my entire plate except for the rice, which meant i had a free refill of the miso soup and an additional eggplant tempura because i've finished mine already :D.
the hire was love, it was very tender. the seafood seemed to be fresh but somehow after the meal i felt itchy which means one of the items wasn't really fresh. i also found the katsu a bit oily like it was cooked at a wrong temperature and if you notice the darker color it kinda hinted that they used a relatively old cooking oil. i'd have to say that they need to ensure the quality of their katsus, after all that's basically what they serve.
it's still a must dining experience and i like that they have great service and also their japanese rice is yummy :D.
yabu
2nd floor sm megamall atrium
freebie bread - warm flat bread with soft pillowy insides served with a yellowish oil which ain't nothing like piadina's chilli oil instead has a sweet flavor...maybe pesto would have been better.
tapa overload which my friend raved about...i like the seasoning on the tapa but the meat is a bit chewy for me and that's the only downside of this dish.
dory and crab thermidor??? not sure this wasn't really mine but i tried it. i was just impressed they used brown rice and that scores points because i love brown rice :).
cheech and chong - among the dishes i have eaten here including the two dogs in a bed this was the winner. i liked the tender chunks of beef in the sauce and it was aptly seasoned to give you that mexican flavor and the cheese sauce made it more yummy. i appreciated the hotdog more now because i noticed that it has a good snap. what might have been disappointing are the nachos, they weren't crunchy and i'm not sure if it was the sauce/steam that made them less crispy but somehow they made the dish off. maybe they can just remove the fries and put nachos instead and serve it with additional salsa.
a cucumber slaw of some sort that was refreshing.
beancurd sheets stuffed with mushroom and meat (yeah i forgot if it was pork or chicken) liked this.
fish maw soup- don't even ask what fish maw is hehehe...spongy texture not a fan.
xiao long bao - not really spectacular it was so so so...my favorite is still dragon-i's yes i find it better than din tai fung :D
some dumplings, nice thin skin...obviously freshly made.
some savory pastries liked it too.
chee cheong fun - rice roll stuffed with shrimps liked it.
forgettable noodles...yuck!
the star of the meal, black sesame glutinous balls in ginger soup. loved the black sesame stuffing it was the right texture of grainy and not mushy with ample amount of sugar and the ginger soup was mildly seasoned. we have been trying tong yuen (not sure about the name) every time we get a chance but the one from shanghai restaurant is still the best.