The Kurobuta was superb!
DB and I had dinner at Yabu Megamall last week. I had read about this place serving Kurobuta pork. If you didn’t know, Kurobuta is to pork what Wagyu is to beef. I simply had to try it.
Since the specialty of the house is their Kurobuta, that was what I ordered. I ordered the Kurobuta Katsu Set (120g) which was P575. The 90g Kurobuta Katsu is P515. P60 difference. I was getting the extra 30g of kurobuta! The set included the kurobuta tonkatsu, unlimited cabbage and unlimited rice, miso soup and sliced fruits.
First, we were given a bowl of toasted sesame seeds that we were supposed to crush (the container was like a mini mortar & pestle). After you crush the sesame seeds to your liking, you are supposed to pour the tonkatsu sauce over it and mix it up. The tonkatsu sauce is on the container at the right near the glass of water in the picture.
The light brown sauce beside the vinegar is the sesame dressing that you put on the cabbage. It’s delicious! I’ve since googled that it is called goma dare.
So on to the meal: the Kurobuta tonkatsu is, I must say, worth it. The pork was juicy, tender, flavorful on its own. I was expecting it to taste a bit more porky, but it was very tender. Did I say tender? Yes. The tonkatsu was almost an inch thick yet was incredibly tender! It was almost a crime to overpower the kurobuta with the tonkatsu sauce, so I sauced it sparingly, preferring to sauce my rice instead. The breading was crisp and not greasy! As you can see, the tonkatsu is served on top of a draining rack.
The shredded cabbage is a good accompaniment. The sesame dressing is delicious and I found myself thinking about preparing this at home. The cabbage salad is a very good way to get your fiber, I think. I ate a lot of cabbage.
The rice is Japanese rice, not ordinary rice, and quite heavy on the stomach!
This is the salmon set that DB got. It was P435 and also includes unlimited rice and unlimited cabbage, miso soup and fruit. The salmon was also very good. It was creamy, juicy, not overcooked, not greasy. So delicious! I love salmon!
I would definitely recommend this restaurant, and not just because I was given a Magnum. Sure, it’s a bit pricey for a tonkatsu, but I think it is good enough to make you think it’s worth it. I would come here over Friday’s, Chili’s or Burgoo (I’m not really into those kinds of places, anyway). I think Yabu’s is much more value for money. I think this is one of those restaurants DB and I will agree to dine at regularly. I mean, Wagyu is at P3,500-5,000 a person. This is P500-600/person for Kurobuta, with unli cabbage and rice. It’s a good deal. I am looking forward to trying their other katsu preparations.
Full disclosure: The manager gave us a complimentary Magnum bar at the end of the meal. He must have seen me taking pictures and guessed I was going to write about his restaurant ;P Oh, well, it did make us happy and feel like valued customers.
Yabu: House of Katsu is at the 2F Atrium, Megamall.
