Dining Adventures: Yabu

Yabu, House of Katsu in Megamall has elevated my love for Japanese food. On the rare occasion that hubby hears of a good restaurant, it usually is!

We were able to easily get a table for two since it was early (before 7pm). But the waiter said that by 7pm, there was usually a wait list. The menu is very simple and straight forward. I decided between the Hiroshima Jumbo Oyster set and the Soft Shell crab but my love for oysters won over. The katsu set comes with unlimited Japanese rice, unlimited shredded cabbage, miso soup, fresh fruit and pickles. Hubby ordered the tonkatsu or Kurobuta Set. The main protein was pork.

While waiting, the server taught us how to make our own sauce by lightly crushing toasted sesame seeds and adding your desired amount of Yabu sauce. It's sweet and thoroughly enhances the flavor of your main entree.

Tastes juuuusssst right!

Our food arrived shortly. They weren't kidding when they wrote Jumbo Oysters!

Yum! 
The food was still hot so I started eating my shredded cabbage with Yabu's amazing garlicky white sauce. I can't give a name for their dressing but paired with the cabbage, you can almost skip the rice. Since the cabbage side dish was bottomless, hubby and I sked for refills. I had 3, he had 2 since he finished his rice. The oysters were still warm on the inside when I bit into them. Succulent, well seasoned and the outer shell was flaky good! Gave one to hubby so he could try it. The oysters were fresh, no fishy smell or taste. I guess they really know how to prepare it. I used my sesame dip with it too. It was a really enjoyable meal, the atmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed and despite seeing the long line of people waiting to get in, hubby and I really made the most of the bottomless cabbage (yes, it was THAT good). Dessert was also in the huge platter they served. It was fresh fruit. A good complement for the katsu meal.

I highly  recommend Yabu for all the Japanese food lovers. The place is amazing, the walls have murals of creating the perfect katsu, the staff are friendly and you don't have to wait long for the food. It's real good value for your money too since they offer bottomless rice and cabbage, just make sure you have enough of the salad dressing to go with the cabbage =)

Will definitely be coming back to this restaurant.

Jumbo Oysters

My monster Yabu meal!

Check out the nearest Yabu branch at Yabus' website.

The Puzzle Mansion

On a recent trip to Tagaytay, we decided to visit the Puzzle Mansion. If you have ever been on the road to Tagaytay, you might have noticed several signs that advertise the place. We did notice it before but it was only during this visit that we decided to actually find it.

It was a good thing we had our own vehicle, it was quite a drive to find the Puzzle Mansion. The signs helped a lot and when we did find it, it's not hard to miss. The place does not only hold the largest Puzzle Collection but also has a bed and breakfast. The parking is spacious but not cemented so best to be let out on the driveway. A huge sign will tell you that you are in the right place...

And right beside the sign is a really nice pool!

The pool is near the rooms that one can rent when visiting Tagaytay, the rooms are named after flowers =) Since we were there for the puzzles (day tour), we paid the entrance fee of Php 100 each. We were a bit distracted with beautiful garden before we got inside the mansion... At the entrance, a friendly male guide will welcome you and even give a free tour of the puzzle mansion. All the puzzles are housed on the ground floor but immediately our attention was caught with the biggest framed puzzle I have ever seen, I thought it was a painting!

A puzzle with 18,00 pieces, amazing... And it only took a month and half to complete it. Here are some of the other puzzles;

I love owls!

There were even 3-D puzzles...

It took us less than 30 minutes to go around the puzzles. The best part was after looking at the collection, we got to meet the lady who made all these puzzles. Her name is Ms. Gina Lucana, she is currently the Guiness World Record holder for the largest puzzle collection. She beat the reigning collector from Brazil =)

On the second floor of the Puzzle Mansion is the gift shop. One can find for sale several puzzles that are both ready to be assembled and completed ones by Ms. Lacuna herself. Some the puzzles for sale are also among her collection. Ms. Lacuna was very friendly and accommodating (not to mention very humble despite her success), she even showed us the puzzle she was working on, a 24,000 pieces puzzle. She had a very large work space built from plywood to help her complete the puzzle She told us her aim was to finish it by September of this year. I can say that I love puzzles myself, but my 8 piece collection seems so tiny compared to that of Ms. Lacuna =) Still bought a couple of puzzles from her store, though. It's cheaper than the ones selling here in Manila malls.

For more details of the Puzzle Mansion Bed and Breakfast, you can visit their website here

The amazing puzzle woman, Ms. Gina Lacuna with the Marianos