Kerry's Journey to the World: Birthday Celebration Day 3 Part 1-Saboten

SABOTEN @ SERENDRA

Last month, I got a phone call from a very close friend of mine who works in Raintree Restaurant as a Corporate Sous Chef. His name is Fred. That was our first long talk after more than a year. He was busy in his work that time and I was working overseas. We also did not get the chance to catch up either after I came back to the country. He told me that he was so busy because they opened up a new restaurant under raintree which is Saboten. He told me the concept, that it is a japanese restaurant. They went all the way to abroad to have a training before opening up. Seems like a must-try, so I told him that I'll celebrate my birthday there with a date. Unfortunately, he was in Eastwood when we had our lunch there.

By the way, there are also other restaurants that's under Raintree such as Chelsea, M cafe, Momo and etc.

I've been planning this for a month, to bring my partner here and to celebrate my birthday with him. I met up with him at LRT Santolan Station near his place. Since he's not used to going to the Fort, I convinced him to take MRT and bus going there to familiarize. We left at 11 pm and arrived exactly an hour after. Luckily, no traffic and less people at Saturday morning.

SABOTEN

The first shop opened up in 1966 in Japan and grew until it expanded to other Asian Countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hongkong, and China. They also opened a branch in Canada. Last May 21, 2013, Saboten opened up in Serendra and it is the first branch in the Philippines. It has the capacity of 88 pax

Before opening up this restaurant, they had their major training abroad last April. But what kind of training if you may ask, that I do not know. hahaha But I somehow feel it's something difficult. They first went to Japan for one week then Hongkong for another week before going back here. Hearing that alone convinced me to really try it.

This is the reception area. Since I told Fred that we're going to have our lunch there, I thought that he'll save us seats. By the time I got there, I initially told the receptionist that I have reservation only to find out that they don't accept reservation...."pahiya ako huhuhu bawi ka Fred birthday ko hehehe kidding"

The place is cool and so Japanese ^_^

FOOD

If you're going to have your first glance in the menu, your initial reaction might be "ang mahal naman" or "too expensive". But almost all dishes in the menu are inclusive of unlimited rice, miso soup, pickled japanese cucumber and korean raddish and shredded cabbage with dressing.

DAMI diba????

At the right are the cabbage and pickled vegetables.
It is accompanied by two dressings(pictures below):Citrus Dressings or Sesame Dressing. I prefer sesame dressing though.
Pickled Vegetables are very good.

Along with the two dressings and the tissues are the pink salt and mustard powder(which add spice to your sauces)

TONKATSU SAUCE

Now this one is very interesting. You will be given a bowl of whole mixed black and white sesame seeds. You will grind it yourself and mix tonkatsu sauce in it. It's grind on the spot, so it will be very flavorful.

This is the Tonkatsu Sauce. And at the picture below is a bowl of sesame seed and the wood that is used for grinding it.

The are of grinding. They told me to grind it in circular motion

And as for our main dish. We ordered special sharing set good for two people

It has 2 deep fried shrimp, 1 Porkloin cutlet,
2 Crabcream Croquettes and
2 sets of Rolled Tenderloin Cutlets.
Each set of rolled cutlets has different fillings
(asparagus, cheese or plum)

The porkloin cutlet and Rolled tenderloin cutlet are the partners of the tonkatsu sauce(the one that I mixed with ground sesame seeds). The deep fried shrimp's sauce is the tartar sauce. Crab cream Croquette doesn't have a sauce because it's already creamy and flavorful.

Aside from sharing set menu, they also have 3 kinds of specialty courses which is good for one. It includes appetizer all the way to dessert. They are yuki 'snow', hana'flower' and tsuki 'moon'. Cool names huh?
They do serve ala-carte such as miso katsu, grated raddish katsu, katsu curry and claypot. As for desserts, they serve Vanilla and Green Tea ice cream, strawberry shortcake, choco hazelnut etc. For beverages, they serve fresh fruit shake. They also have alcoholic drinks such as sake and shochu, beers, cocktails and wines too.

We were so full and very very very very satisfied. The foods are great. And I can't get enough of their miso soup. Their deep-fried items where surprisingly crispy yet soft soft at the same time. They probably are using a very special breading for this one. Of course, I didn't ask fred on how they made it, it's their secret! YUMYUMYUM

AFFORDABILITY

The price of their average check is somewhere between P500-P600. It may look expensive, but dining in Saboten is worth the experience. You can check their menu on their website www.saboten.ph

SERVICE

The foods are served fast and hot. I can really say that all food servers there are well-trained. They are very informative of what the dishes, what is the best sauce for each dish. The only comment that I can give is that they need to have an initiative to explain to guest these information rather than letting the guests ask first, (Or maybe I was quick enough to ask first). They all have pleasing personality. They are also attentive to the needs of the guest that you don't have to ask twice or follow up. They also do gestures like bowing after taking orders, after serving foods and etc. According to them, it's a sign of respect to the guest.
Our server that time is Jasmin.