THE building will catch your attention, as it now rises along Jacinto Extension at the corner that for decades and decades was an old wooden two-storey house complete with the staircase going to the balkon on the front.
Now there's a building with the most inviting sign outside, "Katsu Country". And Katsu means... Japanese food!!! That was where Deng and I found ourselves last week, to get a peek into this new place. Is it worth a visit? Deng, however, is gastronomically-constrained, meaning, she only eats what she always eats. In this case, the Katsu meatball spaghetti.
Actually, she was willing to try the Nori Carbonara, but I prevailed on her to get her favorite instead since it has the name of the restaurant on it. They have several Katsu sets: pork, chicken, shrimp, fish, and beef Menchi, but the waiter said their best-seller is the shrimp, and so I got the shrimp.
You can't go to a Katsu Country without trying the katsu. I'd want to try the seaweed avocado salad and their menchi katsu burger when I return. These sound promising.
The burger is in their list of specials along with Katsu Curry Pork and Katsu Curry Chicken. They have reasonably priced coffee, but I opted for sparkling peach water, except that... they were out of it, so I got the lychee instead.
One item in the menu grabbed our attention: Cabbage with Goma. What is it? It's julienne-sliced cabbage with sesame or Goma dressing. I got one order, since I like nibbling on greens. The meatballs were real meatballs. You actually bite into ground meat and not some extenders.
Yeah! That was good spaghetti, too. The Katsu shrimp comes with one piece squash croquette, so you get to taste the croquette as well. I like grinding my sesame seeds in the suribachi.
A man, who looked like the owner offered to grind the seeds himself, I insisted to do it. There's something about grinding seeds in a suribachi that quiets the mind. Promise. Try it. do not let the waiter do it for you, you're missing out on something if the food comes to you all set to eat.
The problem with having just one companion who's gastronimically-constrained is that you get to try just a few. But for starters and for soft opening, the food is good and holds great promise.
I'm waiting for the ramen. It's still coming soon. Katsu Country is at the new building at the corner of Jacinto Extension and Arellano Street.
It's a nice place to hang out in as well, the interiors are sleek, and the noise and music are toned down. Chic.
