Review of 'Kimukatsu'

I am a big fan of Katsu ever since I have had it the way it should be served I am always on the look out for restaurants that do it “correctly” - Ideally served with a rough textured bowl that you use to grind sesame seeds in then add the wonderful katsu sauce to. So, walking down the BGC high street I noticed this small restaurant with tables outside just down a side road beside a ramen shop so thought I would have a look at what they had to offer.

“Kimukatsu” offers a bit of a twist on normal Japanese katsu, rather than simply a deep-fried meat cutlet inside a crispy breadcrumb crust they offer what they call, surprisingly enough “Kimukatsu” where the meat is actually in layers leaving it not only interesting to look at but also tender and juicy.

I arrived just before 5 pm on a Saturday with only one other group in the restaurant celebrating a birthday or something. I was seated beside the cash register against the wall which is fine, out of the way. The restaurant is quite plane, with simple black Asian furniture. I had a look through the menu that was primarily focused on katsu, as you might expect, though there were other standard Japanese dishes including donburi and sides including edamame. Their katsu is served either plain or as part of a “set” so I went for the “Plain Kimukatsu Set” which includes a small dish of pickled vegetables, unlimited finely sliced cabbage salad, white soup and rice all for PHP 350 it is quite the bargain. Other than “plain” there are other flavours of Kimukatsuon offer too including garlic, cheese and black pepper.

Table

The vegetables and salad arrived pretty quickly along with a small container with crushed pepper in it to which you add the katsu sauce. There are other sauces on the table for use on the cabbage but I stuck to the zesty creamy sauce (like a spicy mayonnaise) on the side of the table…no idea what it was…Very delicious. The white soup was also quite tasty. Both of which I had refills of.

Layers

Soon enough the Kimukatsu arrived draining on top of a small grill with a side wooden bowl of white rice. Though it looks small it was more than filling, cut into several pieces to make eating a bit easier. The provided katsu sauce added to the ground spices made a great dip and soon enough the katsu was gone.

The service was a bit slow but that is possibly because there were so few people in the place and those there were concentrating on the party at the other table. The cook came out at one point so I made a point to let him know how much I enjoyed the food.

Will be interested in coming back to try some of the other flavours…but would want to stick to the Kimukatsu, as normal katsu you can in any number of other places, where else can you find “25 layer Kimukatsu”? Particularly at a reasonable price point with bottomless side dishes…Would make a great lunch though might not be interested in it for a dinner as it is a bit too informal for that.

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2017-03-18


Cuisine: Japanese

Address: BONIFACIO HIGH STREET Ground Level, Building 7, Bonifacio High Street, Manila, Philippines

Location: Manila (Philippines) - Bonifacio Global City

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Telephone: +632 808 0333

URL: http://www.kimukatsu.ph/