Tonkatsu, karaage and many other well-loved Japanese favourites are easy to spot everywhere in Makati. So standing out is possibly a huge issue for most of this restaurants that offer the same menu. Saboten has high ceilings, decors in good taste and lighting similar to a normal family kitchen.
It wasn't overly dressed up, and in no way did I feel intimidated. It was somewhat very comfortable and the distance between tables was reasonable. It was still fairly easy to hear the conversations of the nearer tables, but seeing as that’s always the case in restaurants in the Philippines, I would say they didn't do a half bad job structuring the place.
It wasn't overly dressed up, and in no way did I feel intimidated. It was somewhat very comfortable and the distance between tables was reasonable. It was still fairly easy to hear the conversations of the nearer tables, but seeing as that’s always the case in restaurants in the Philippines, I would say they didn't do a half bad job structuring the place.
First Impressions
It was this shiny, new Japanese place that I really wanted to try. Early this year it was still in construction and I was looking forward to the opening. I was expecting prices similar to Yabu and Ginza Bairin as well as a well prepped up menu to cope.
Reality
Good prices, and yep very similar for the case of other restaurants which offer the same menu (So battle is quite tight here folks). But they have these set meals (Tsuki/Moon, Yuki/Snow and Hana/Flower) which ranged from 595-695 php. These really make the difference, as the sets come with the traditional offerings plus a LOT of side dishes and even dessert. They offer the traditional set of unlimited cabbage, rice and miso soup as well as really nice service green tea. The only complaint I would have would be the prices of their drinks, it’s a little over the top for me and I’ll go to that later.
It was this shiny, new Japanese place that I really wanted to try. Early this year it was still in construction and I was looking forward to the opening. I was expecting prices similar to Yabu and Ginza Bairin as well as a well prepped up menu to cope.
Reality
Good prices, and yep very similar for the case of other restaurants which offer the same menu (So battle is quite tight here folks). But they have these set meals (Tsuki/Moon, Yuki/Snow and Hana/Flower) which ranged from 595-695 php. These really make the difference, as the sets come with the traditional offerings plus a LOT of side dishes and even dessert. They offer the traditional set of unlimited cabbage, rice and miso soup as well as really nice service green tea. The only complaint I would have would be the prices of their drinks, it’s a little over the top for me and I’ll go to that later.
As mentioned earlier, the prices for the drinks are a bit too steep in comparison to their competition. They serve coke in can for 95 php, that’s highway robbery for me. I’ve also tried the chocolate ice cream as it really looked interesting in the picture and costs around 195 php. I was severely disappointed in the size. Customer Service: They're there but not at the same time, it’s not a hit or miss like in Watami wherein the quality of service proportionally decreased as their prices soared. Our drinks were refilled but our conversations wasn't truly disrupted, they had a quiet and respectful way about the way they served. The seats had this good measure of ‘privacy’ as a lot of it was comfortable enclosed sitting areas. |
The taste:
They used a dessert technique called "mille feuille" with their katsu, which made it so tender and easy to bite into. The generous cheese filling in my tenderloin katsu might put off some people, but it was seriously a treat for me. The crunchy texture that the panko gave, together with the classic sesame and sauce hits the spot. I also like the slice of lemon I get to squeeze into my food for the slight acidity. The miso soup was always served beautifully warm and consistently soulful. And the rice was fluffy and definitely a hefty addition to such a meal. I also really enjoyed their service tea as well as the simple goma sauce to the classic cabbage slices.
Summary
They should really re-think the pricing on their drinks. Am not sure why they thought it was a good move to go heavy handed with that, maybe they’re trying to make people healthy by scaring them away from sweet desserts and soft drinks. But that n cut of lemon in my glass of coke doesn’t really help. I don’t want to absorb ‘coke’ as lemon is helpful in that respect.
But I’ll definitely go there with an extra hundred or so prepared to compliment my food with actual drink.
They should really re-think the pricing on their drinks. Am not sure why they thought it was a good move to go heavy handed with that, maybe they’re trying to make people healthy by scaring them away from sweet desserts and soft drinks. But that n cut of lemon in my glass of coke doesn’t really help. I don’t want to absorb ‘coke’ as lemon is helpful in that respect.
But I’ll definitely go there with an extra hundred or so prepared to compliment my food with actual drink.