Yabu (SM Megamall)

Me, Beloved, and Hannah ate at Yabu. This Japanese restaurant inadvertently replaced now closed favorite of ours, Curry Curry House, at SM Megamall. However, this place doesn't specialize in Japanese curry, nor does it specialize in typical Japanese food. Instead, this place specializes in katsu: the deep-fried breaded style of cooking. Beloved has been clamoring to try this place out, and an opportunity presented itself a couple of days ago.

Although this place offers only katsu, it practically offers almost all the possible dishes that can be applied with the said style of cooking. They offer the usual pork and chicken, as well as the not so common fish and other seafood and veggies. They also offer variations of katsu, such as curry and katsudon, which is basically the dish with eggs mixed in. Most of the items in their menu comes in sets with unlimited rice and cabbage, as well as some sides, fruits, and miso soup.

The most premium item in their menu is the Kurobuta Tonkatsu (575 Php for 120 grams, 515 Php for 90 grams). According to the menu, kurobuta, literally "black pig", is the "kobe beef of pork", having prominent marbling in the meat. I've seen the said black pig used in an episode of Iron Chef, and like most episodes of Iron Chef which uses unusual ingredients, it instantly became one of my have-to-eats in my bucket list. I ordered the 120 gram portion. Beloved ordered their Seafood Set #1 (485 Php) and Hannah got their Hire and Seafood Mix (475 Php).

Woorijib (Kalayaan Avenue)

Beloved and I had dinner at Woorijib a couple of days ago. I was badly craving for pork belly, and since samgyupsal seems to be the most cost-efficient way to consume as much pork belly as I can, we considered going to Don-Day. I did a quick Google search for samgyupsal and Quezon City, and this place was among the first to pop up, receiving quite favorable reviews. It was located at Kalayaan Avenue, just a couple of jeepney rides away from home. Because I felt that Don-Day would be better for when there's more than the two of us, I urged Beloved that we try this place out instead.

Unlike Don-Day which is essentially a Korean buffet specializing in samgyupsal, Woorijib is a full-fledged Korean restaurant. However, all the tables seem to be ordering either their pork belly samgyupsal or beef version of it, since there is free endless side dishes, veggies, and soup. Beloved was leaning to the beef version, but since they probably wouldn't allow mixing up the two (or would make us pay for both for each of us), I convinced her to that: their Samgyupsal (299 Php). Beloved also ordered their Kimbap (200 Php), since, as I've mentioned, this place isn't really a Korean buffet. I felt that this was unneeded, seeing the grand feast the other tables were having, but I let Beloved have her order since she did agree to the pork.

Rub (Scout Rallos, near Tomas Morato)

Me, Beloved, and Hannah ate at Rub a couple of nights ago. This small restaurant is located beside H Cuisine, located beside Beloved and Hannah's new favorite place near Tomas Morato: Serenitea. Apparently, this place has been here for quite a while, but we never knew about it until recently because it's not found at Tomas Morato itself, rather at one of the inner streets, specifically Scout Rallos. Spoiling everything, this place specializes in barbecue, specifically barbecued ribs. Beloved has been wanting to eat ribs for quite a while, so this provided an opportunity. We were a bit surprised to find out that the place was full, and we had to wait two tables to be served before we were let in.

As I've mentioned, this place is all about barbecued ribs. They serve singles, for two, or for four, at incrementing prices and side dishes. We ordered their Family Brunch (685 Php) rib platter, consisting of said ribs good for four people plus three different side dishes. There were nine different sides, and we chose their Fresh Potato Fries, Garlic Spinach and Mushrooms, and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato. Since this didn't include drinks, we also got a pitcher of their Iced Tea (110 Php).

Tempura Japanese Grill - UnlimEATed Grill (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Tempura Japanese Grill a few days ago. Yeah, this post makes this place the most reviewed place on this blog. However, this is good reason, though. There have been drastic changes to the place. They now offer both a Japanese buffet, which I believe comes in a per-order basis on selected dishes, and also a unlimited grilling promo, separate from the buffet. Since, after all this time, we've yet to try the "Grill" portion of the place, we, well, I decided to take the opportunity to try it out.

They named their grilling promo "UnlimEATed" (499 Php per person), which comes with both unlimited drinks and rice. Similar to other yakiniku buffets, their choices range from pork, beef, stuff wrapped in beef, seafood, and vegetables. Unlike the conventional, though, where the raw food is placed at a buffet table for you to grab what you want, theirs come in a per-order basis. Yes, you can order as much as you want, but this presents a problem I found in Zensho—you wouldn't be able to gauge your appetite. Anyway, they ask you to choose from one of their sampler platters: all meat, all seafood, and combination; and then choose from their single orders. Since the combination platter essentially comes with everything they offer save the veggies, I chose that.

Beloved didn't join me. Instead, she ordered her usual Tempura Udon (210 Php) and their Salmon Sashimi (195 Php). We won't bother reviewing the udon, since she's been ordering that ever since and it hasn't changed much save for the slight price increase.

Dulcinea - Breakfast (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had breakfast at bakery-slash-Spanish restaurant Dulcinea a couple of days ago. Beloved used to frequent this place for the Spanish food with her family. However, this is the first time for her trying out their Breakfast menu. Same goes to me. While walking around Tomas Morato in the morning, looking for a place to eat, we find out that this place is opened, so we went inside to satisfy my early morning hunger, despite Beloved's warnings that this might be a pretty steep place.

Their breakfast menu was surprisingly Western. Well, I'm not really familiar with what Spanish breakfast consists of, but there were a couple of Spanish dishes in the menu. However, perhaps more surprising was that the prices weren't as steep as I expected, and they also come with free coffee or hot chocolate. My favorite breakfast dish was there, so I ordered it: Bacon and Eggs (165 Php). Beloved's second favorite breakfast dish was also present, so she ordered it: Corned Beef Hash (165 Php). Finally, one of Beloved's favorite desserts was also on the menu, so we ordered it: Churros House Specialty (95 Php).