Kimukatsu: Different Flavors of Katsu

"shine bright like a diamond... "

and that is how my head imagined things when I entered this Katsu place in Shangrila...

The interiors exudes a feudal Japan feel. Lots of lantern like lighting and also a nicely decorated wall art.

 A chill setting with a little dark ambiance.

A week or so ago, I found myself going out on a date... and not just any ordinary date.. Its a date with my dad. OMG! ... Ewwwwww << would be an understatement. Anyway... fine... I asked him, what he wanted to eat and when he said rice and Japanese food, we found ourselves infront of the newly opened Kimukatsu in Shangrila Mall a little past 1.

The place was packed with only 2 tables free... quite the impression since it was a weekday and there were a lot of dinners still coming in. So, what's different in Kimukatsu compared to Ginza Bairin (click), Saboten (click), and Yabu (click) ?

The menu they serve offer different flavors of katsu. They all varies in type of meat they use and also the flavors they incorporate with the meal.

After ordering, the service was really quick and straight up.

Drinks and appetizers served within a few minutes. 

I had their complimentary hot tea..

My tea along with the sauces for the shredded cabbage and some katsu sauce and ponzu sauce.

 while dad ordered buko (80Php). Yes.. Buko in a Japanese Restaurant...Cool...

Back when dad was in a different office in Manila, he would always have buko in the morning... -from one of his old school stories...

 For starters, dad had the potato salad (130Php).. his forever favorite...

and I tried out the Ebi Mayo (210Php)

 The ebi mayo is a little sweet and as anyone would expect would be a great pulutan or beer partner.. only problem I had was that the serving size is good for 1/2 of me. LOL.. it was that good that bitin kami!

A bowl of shredded cabbage arrived (unlimited with ordering sets..)

Just like in any of the Katsu restos around, you can pick any of the sauces to make a mean cabbage salad...

Miso soup was also served... It was either a choice of red or white variant.

This is the one of 2 katsu places in the metro that I know of that offers different kinds of miso soup. The other one ... is in GH.  

 And yes sesame seeds were given to us to mush and swirl while waiting... for the main courses. 

I liked the smell of freshly grind sesame seeds 

Another unique approach of this resto is to have 3 different dippers for the sauces. Most restos would have one or two... 

One for their sea salt, another for the katsu sauce (thick and flavorful... put some sesame seed on top) and the last one is the ponzu sauce.

Pickled veggies were also served... 

Didn't like it so I stayed away from it... veggies.. arghhh

What made our experience wonderful was the rice. 

Yes you read that right!

The rice was served in Japanese rice tubs or ohitsu. Usually, these are used to serve rice at a normal Japanese table during meals or used to prepare rice for sushi making.

The rice they served was cooked perfectly. Too perfect if I might say that dad and I finished this down to the last piece.. and yes it is refillable. When we asked the server about it, we were informed that they cook their rice in a different manner. That they only cook it upon order and that a special technique and equipment is used.. YAY! YUMMY!.. rice + sesame seeds on top = heaven!

But wait...I am sooo getting ahead of the meal...

Before our katsu arrived, my order of kimukatsu cheese sandwich (230Php) got to our table.

It was a dream snack. A little expensive but worth it. Think katsu with cheese and soft white bread to partner with its sweet sauce. and yes.. I have a big mouth so I can do this in ONE BIG BITE! LOL!

Just as I was enjoying this little snack... our katsu arrived. The flavored Kimukatsu set (3 flavors 1200Php)

includes 2 rice sets (unlimited:  miso soup, cabbage, veggies, rice).

Up first is their kurobuta.

It was juicy, soft and definitely okay but I guess Yabu's version is better and more intense... 

Next stop is Ume Shiso. Made with Japesese sour plum and shiso leaves.

The flavor of the sour plum and the leaves definitely brings out a different take on the katsu.

My favorite variant for this meal would have to be the cheese.

The cheese was gooey and ow so good. It melts in your mouth!

Properly seasoned and lovely choice of cheese, every bite gives me that rush of eating it and getting more rice..!!! OMG!

I must say, I heard conflicting reviews about this place. From what I gathered, they are still in their soft opening phase since they only opened in December 2013. My experience though was quite positive. I enjoyed the food and the service. The pricing is quite competitive and what is great is that you get to taste different flavors of katsu and share it with others. Furthermore, their concept of set meals for the number of dinners definitely help the customer pick this resto from the others... In any case, would be going back with my friends some other time. Budget around 500-600 per person.

and of course... some macarons for dessert :D

Kimukatsu

East Wing Shangrila Mall

Paid for our meals, opinions stated here are mine.