My favorite katsu place has finally made it to the Alabang Town Center! I was ecstatic to get an invite from the pretty ladies of Yabu: House of Katsu, inviting me to their newest branch. When in the south, I usually go to Southmall just for this, and the place is always packed with people, so having this at ATC is better - I can hit up the Jamba Juice store after!
So Jericho and I headed over to ATC - his Bedan stomping grounds - to get our katsu on and support one of our favorite local restaurants.
You can find the newest branch on the second floor at the Corte De Las Palmas - the same row as Cibo and right next to Recipes. I overheard on e of the marketing people say they can sit up to 50 people inside and 60 people outside (or something to that extent), so that's pretty impressive. Yabu is almost always full whenever I drop by for a meal!
John Concepcion, Yabu's young CEO, was there for the blessing and ribbon cutting, with all the Yabu staff behind him to welcome customers to their new home. I love how their service is consistent all throughout all of their stores - all the staff are knowledgeable, the managers are very hands on, and the food comes out perfect every single time.
After getting seated with The Mommist (and Daddist!), we ordered a bunch of appetizers to quell our rumbling tummies 'til the rest of our food arrived.
I got the simple Spinach with Goma Sauce - chilled Japanese Spinach mixed with sweet goma sauce - as well as the Superior Potato & Egg Salad - chunks of potato and egg tossed in a creamy mayonnaise-mustard dressing.
Len got the Edamame and Wakame - seaweed salad topped with ebiko. Edamame isn't as common here as it is in the States, I've noticed.
Making the most of our night, we dove right in to our tall glasses of fruit shakes. I couldn't resist the call of the Ripe Mango Shake (P100) and Jericho went for a light and refreshing Watermelon Shake (P90).
Jericho miraculously skipped his usual Menchi Set and ordered the Premium Tonkatsu Kurobuta Pork Set 120g instead. The slab of soft pork katsu is served with Japanese white rice or organic brown rice, miso soup, Japanese pickles, organic cabbage, and a bowl of fruit - all of which are refillable!
I tried something different as well and tried Yabu's Hire and Seafood Katsu Set that was kind of their versio of Surf & Turf. This set consisted of Hire, Black Tiger Prawn, Cream Dory, Scallop, Eggplant and Pepper. This also came with the refillable fixins, and after my third serving of shredded organic cabbage swimming in goma and wasabi sauce, I ended up giving up halfway through the meal and gave most of it to Jericho. I still have very vivid dreams of the wonderful, meaty scallop that came with this set - they should really start selling this separately.
After having our fill of katsu, we winded down dessert with glasses of cold Barley Tea. This is usually given out for free, like most house teas, and comes hot or cold. You just need to ask your server. We usually ask for extra syrup, too.
For dessert we enjoyed Yabu's Lava Cake Strawberry ala Mode (P155). Although quite small, this dark chocolate cake hit the spot. I've ordered this a few times before, and wasn't surprised that there was no molten chocolate filling anymore - the cake is so small I think whatever half-baked goo left in the center cools and hardens after the it's topped with a scoop of strawberry ice cream.
I found this launch to be a lot more intimate than most of the other branch launches and had a really good time! Thank you Erika and Denise for the invite, I really appreciate it!
When mucking around the Alabang Town Center you can now get your katsu cravings filled at the newly opened Yabu: House of Katsu! With almost everything you order being refillable (except the katsu, of course), the service being impeccable, and the food you order being perfectly cooked every time, there really is no reason why this shouldn't be your favorite katsu joint, either.
Just mucking around Manila,
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Images taken by Jericho San Miguel of The Pixel Project Manila
Yabu: House of Katsu
2F Corte De Las Palmas,
Alabang Town Center
Commerce Ave., Muntinlupa City
Open Daily: 11am - 9pm
