Ginza Bairin Trinoma: A food review and Yabu comparison

I ate yesterday at the newest japanese restaurant in Trinoma. The Ginza Bairin katsu restaurant in Trinoma will give its first 100 customers a P500 gift card and it can be used on the next visit. The waiter greeted me and told me that they will give me a gift card because I was included on their first 100 tables served. Since I posted before a Yabu review in this website, I wanted to try this katsu restaurant.

The kurobuta katsu rosu set here costs 595 pesos while in Yabu as I remember it was 590 pesos for 120 grams. Hmmm... I'll wait and see if it can surpass Yabu's kurobuta set. It was Saturday and many folks dined there. As I observed the surroundings, it was good and exuded the Japanese culture appeal but Yabu's ambiance was better and larger.

But wait.. I like this area, it's like you are in a simple japanese ramen house. Because of this, I decided to stay there.

These are sauces, spices and condiments on the table. While in Yabu, the waiter will explain the ways of using these for the katsu, here in Ginza Bairin, they have a guide for these.

Himalayan salt

Katsu sauce

The menu includes the history of this restaurant, clicking these pictures will help you read further.

At last, my ordered Kurobuta Rosu Katsu set comes here:

The set includes unlimited rice, fruits, japanese pickles, cabbage and miso soup. You can also read my Yabu review so you can compare the meals. I just noticed that the pickles in Yabu is more on a reddish purple color. 

Since I ate alone, I cannot emerge the tofu and the leaves in the miso soup.

Here it is.

I asked the waitress if how many grams does this tonkatsu possess. She said it is 120 grams. 

You can watch the actual meal here:

The kurobuta katsu here looks smaller than in Yabu or it's just that Yabu's kurobuta tonkatsu is wider. By the way, the meal's very delicious and I want more. The staff and the manager were accommodating. I saw this promo:

Since I cannot connect to Ginza Bairin's WiFi, I just tried my WiFi connection, I showed the picture to the waitress and I was glad I'll have a taste of their ice cream.

This ice cream's filled with black sesame seeds. Its taste is similar to hopia mongo.

I want to have another scoop but I just thought I'll forget about it and I don't want to spend impulsively to a scoop of ice cream.

The managers asked me if the food's good and I said yes because it really tasted good and the service was good and they have the feedback form just like in Shakey's.

It happened that in terms of ambiance, condiments, service and side dishes, Yabu's better. In terms of the kurobuta, they were the same. Regarding promos, I like Ginza Bairin more. 

If you are in Trinoma, you don't need to go in SM North just to eat Tonkatsu. Ginza Bairin and yabu have the same quality food. On other aspects, it's up to you if which of the two will you choose.

Rating for Ginza Bairin: 

Ginza Bairin has three branches.
Trinoma
Level 1, Garden Restaurants
EDSA cor., North Ave., Q.C.

UP Town Center
Ground Floor, Katipunan Ave., Q.C.
+63.917.871.0041

Glorietta 2
Ground Floor (along Palm Drive)
Ayala Center, Makati City
+632.553.7350

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Yabu: The House of Katsu review

Tonkatsu is 豚カツ, とんかつ or トンカツ is a Japanese food which consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. There are two main types, hire and rosu. It is often served with shredded cabbage. - Wikipedia

Usually, a Japanese restaurant is not complete without tonkatsu in the menu. It is one of the most ordered dishes whenever everyone dines in. I will do a Yabu restaurant review today. Sit back and read this review. I am sure you will not regret reading this. Presenting, Yabu: The House of Katsu review

On the year 2013, lots of restaurants in SM North Edsa The Block were newly opened. I usually eat at Lugang Cafe and Mary Grace but never tried Yabu and Slappy Cakes. I did not try Yabu back then due to my traumatic dining experiences at Tempura Japanese Grill and Sumo-Sam. The former for bad service and the latter one was too expensive and not worth the price. I am hesitant to come back again to these restaurants knowing that I will waste my hard earned money.

This year 2014, Yabu: The House of Katsu is still the talk of food blogs these days. Upon passing the JLPT N5 exam, I want to have my Japanese non ramen dining adventure once again. Believing that Yabu review from other food blogs are not sponsored by anyone else and really looks honest, I will take a gamble to taste a high grade tonkatsu inside the mall again since I cannot drive a car. (In my family, only I and my mother cannot drive a car due to laziness and my priority budget issues ^^)

Last Saturday, going to SM North to buy something, I first look at the large Yabu The House of Katsu menu outside first so I will know if I can afford the prices. Gladly, the price list is on my budget and upon seeing the diners, the servings look adequate even sharing a dish between two persons. I called my friend Mallix to invite him for Yabu since he already tried dishes at Yabu, SM Megamall Atrium. Lucky me, he was willing to bring his DSLR. :D High quality photos here they come! :) By the way, thanks to him that I am able to post all these pictures.

All photos were taken by Mallix. You can visit Mallix's facebook page and his Nendo Shelf.

Please click the photos if you want to see larger versions of these.

Pretend that he's not there :P

After buying and strolling, I entered Yabu The House of Katsu restaurant for reservations. Luckily there is a table available despite many customers. Staff is very courteous especially their managers. They are courteous to the point that they will ask you if someone already assisted me for my orders. There's also wi-fi here but unfortunately, I did not succeed trying this because I cannot connect to their own wi-fi even the password was right. Upon looking at the menu, I saw the picture of their most famous chef.  Below is the information I got from the official site.

Chef Kazuya Takeda

We are honored to have Chef Kazuya as Yabu’s partner on all things katsu. As the head of chef of Tonkatsu Takeshin, a popular tonkatsu restaurant in Tokyo, he has graciously and generously passed on his knowledge of katsu to our chefs, ensuring that each and every katsu we make is delicious and perfect.

Sake (Japanese wine) bar

I enjoyed reading these big manga (japanese comic book) walls. Testimonial walls have fun signages and Instagram printed posts.

Wanting to take this dining opportunity granted, I ordered the Premium Tonkatsu Set made from Kurobuta 黒豚. Kurobuta, also known as the Black Berkshire pig, is the world's finest pork. It is called the "kobe beef" of pork, due to its rich marbling, softness and flavor.

The Premium Tonkatsu Set is served with unlimited Japanese white rice or organic brown rice, miso soup, Japanese pickles, organic cabbage with your choice of dressing and a bowl of fruit. It has 3/4 inch cutlet made from pork with a trimming of fat.

There are 90 and 120 grams of kurobuta available. I chose the 120 grams.  Upon waiting, I saw a glimpse of the washroom full of notes and testimonials. I did not bother to take a picture since I don't have the need to go to the washroom.

While still waiting for my order, the waiter came to me and introduced all their spices. The three bottles contain, Goma (Japanese mayonnaise), Soy sauce with vinegar with a bit of lemon extract, and the last is Wasabi.

The leftmost pot contains the Katsu sauce and the rightmost one contains Himalayan pink salt. 

The three spices are chili powder, chili sauce and I forgot the last one but I think it's pepper.

Katsu sauce

Himalayan pink salt

In making the katsu sauce, grind the sesame seeds by just moving (not pummeling) the wooden pestle. Then, katsu sauce can be poured and the tonkatsu can now be dipped.

The tasting is now open for us. Cannot wait to eat this!

I love watermelons! There is miso soup inside the black bowl

Hot! Still, I can drink it immediately.

Close up

The actual size is just right. The mini flag design is somewhat cute.  There are cabbage and japanese mustard on the plate. The cut is really a 3/4 inch. No over-breading. Unlike other tonkatsus, the breading doesn't totally come off the meat. The meat is not too thick and it doesn't taste like a boiled hard porkchop. Yabu's tonkatsu tastes great that the fried meat's flavor is still there. Also, Yabu's tonkatsu is not oily. It is safe for those who wanted to avoid too much fat and oil. Though, not crunchy, this tonkatsu has the exact texture and you will not feel or taste the overcooked breading.

The Katsu sauce itself is not sweet unlike in commercial products. It tastes like a bit of sake or a bit of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. I don't like using Wasabi in tonkatsu. I used the katsu sauce we made earlier with sesame seeds and the Goma sauce in dipping the tonkatsu. The japanese mustard is sour and I like the mustard in burgers more than this.

Since there is unli rice (pinoy slang for unlimited rice) and we can choose between japanese rice and brown rice, we alternately request for both kinds of rice.

Requesting unli cabbage and dressing

We took the unli cabbage and dressing for granted. We can also request for additional fruits and pickles.

We both enjoyed dining here. The service was also great!

Rating: 
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Yabu House of Katsu
Megamall 631-1192 
Robinsons Magnolia 961-4975 
Mall of Asia 511-7202
North Edsa 351-6983

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