Amateur Review - Saboten Serendra

March 8, 2014

Maica and I decided to have dinner at Saboten in Serendra. Good thing we arrived around 6pm because when we left a long line had formed outside. But I'm getting too fast here.

The place was well lit, and the prices looked reasonable. The only gripe I had with the menu is that instead of giving metric measurements for the portions they have the usual "small, medium, and large" so I have no idea how heavy the katsus were.

Took a pic of the restaurant's name in case I forget

Saboten gives customers the usual shredded cabbage and the sesame seeds that you grind before pouring the tonkatsu sauce. One bonus with the shredded cabbage is they also include slices of radish and a pickled vegetable I can't identify. I just love having the salad with the ponzu (or was it yuzu?) sauce. I have a couple of servings, and our shredded cabbage, pickles, and radish was replenished twice.

The usual katsu place "gimmick" - grind sesame seeds then pour on the sauce

My meal arrived in quick fashion. I was excited to try out the tonkatsu I got. Of course, before digging in, I decided to take a picture of my meal.

My dinner - large tenderloin tonkatsu

The tonkatsu was amazing. It was very, very tasty. And it was also very tender. I would go so far as to say as it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. It was delicious even without the sauce. I usually taste the tonkatsu by itself before I pour the sauce to see how good it is, and believe me... It. Was. Fucking. Delicious.

Just take a look at the quality of the katsu

Maica had a mixed platter. But from what she said, the portions were just right and the taste was also good.

Maica's dinner - a mixed set

My conclusion? Saboten is now the best tonkatsu I've had in the Philippines. Yes. Even better than Yabu. There, I said it.

Better in taste, in price, in bang-for-the-buck. I am definitely going back there to try the other variations of tonkatsu, just to see how well it stands against Yabu.

Out.