Crazy Katsu

Special Note: For this blog entry, KiMiguel are joined by Migs' friends Brent, JT, and Joseph as they were out hunting folding bikes in Makati :)

August 19, 2012. Sunday.

We were in Makati getting a couple of folding bikes and parts, and it was already past 12 noon! We couldn't decide where to eat in Makati so the best and most logical thing to do is.. to travel to Concepcion, Marikina to have late lunch. That's how crazy we are. At around a little past 1PM, we finally made it to our destination which is Crazy Katsu.

Photo from chadsenga.com, since we didn't take a pic of the signage :|

Yes, there is a Crazy Katsu in Maginhawa Street in Teacher's Village. And yes, this is the same Crazy Katsu.

Crazy Katsu is a simple Japanese restaurant with a one pager for a menu. Its interiors are very minimalist, from the walls, to the tables and chairs. But I like it. It has a very zen- feel to it. It is owned by Shinji Tanaka (the drummer of local indie band, Gaijin), so CD's of some indie artists are available for sale on the counter. And don't be surprised to see some local musicians pop up from time to time. We saw Raimund Marasigan during our visit, 'di lang kami nakapagpapicture, tagal niya kumain eh, haha. Now on to our orders!

Joseph and JT ordered the Katsu Curry.

Katsu Curry. 190php.

Joseph said it wasn't really that spicy, that's why he was pouring Japanese spice powder all over it. And that was their only comment on it.. 'not spicy enough.'

I ordered the Chicken Katsu, which the wait staff said is their best seller. Brent ordered this too.

Chicken Katsu. 145php. This comes with rice, too.

For the Chicken Katsu, you can have it sweet or spicy or a combination of both, sweet- spicy. We had it made in sweet- spicy. The chicken was really tender and it was fried just right. I love spicy food, but I found the dish to be swimming in too much red chili's that it sometimes overwhelmed the taste of the chicken. If it's any consolation, it's served on top of shredded lettuce to temper the sweetness or spiciness of the dish.

Kim played it safe and ordered Katsudon.

Katsudon. 150php. Photo from spot.ph.

Katsudon is one of those dishes you order when you really have not preference,. It's a dish you order when you just want a sure-fire good meal. I haven't really come across a bad Katsudon, and this one was no exception. The pork cutlets were tender, the rice moist enough, the egg runny enough and the glaze (soy sauce, mirin, sugar, etc.) sweet enough.

We also got 4 orders of Gyoza, one each for the guys and one for KiMiguel.

Gyoza. 120php.

For the longest time, I've wanted to try Crazy Katsu because of all the good reviews. I must admit, the experience is a little underwhelming. While the food was good, there's really nothing special and different about it. On some days, good food is more than enough to fill an empty stomach. But if you came a long way just to try something new, you expect something more than good enough. With that said, Crazy Katsu serves good food for good prices. I just don't think we'd be coming back here except if it's the most convenient place available to eat at.

Crazy Katsu
#48 Lilac St. Hacienda Heights,
Concepcion Ⅱ, Marikina City
https://www.facebook.com/crazykatsu
http://www.crazykatsu.com/

Johnny's The Fried of Marikina

More often than not, we usually spend more than we intend to when dining out. And it seems like 400++php per head is becoming the norm for us. So, it's really a good feeling when we go dining at somewhere where we don't have to break the bank. And lately, our favorite place to go to for that is Johnny's The Fried of Marikina. We haven't been to any of the original Johnny's branches in Marikina, but we frequent the one in Cybermall in Eastwood City.

In Johnny's, our 400php would be more than enough to feed both our heavy appetites plus another person. But that isn't a problem, since we always usually eat for 3. So, read through as we spend our regular Thursdate in Johnny's.

I'm still a little confused as to what kind of resto Johnny's really is. It says in their history, that they are a Chinese restaurant. I guess if you browse through their menu you could see some traces of Chinese food. But then most of the dishes are Pinoy staples.. and then there's tempura. O_O But yeah, as long as the food is good and it gives you good value for your money, who cares?

Everytime we eat here, we order the Lumpiang Shanghai (sharing for 2).

Lumpiang Shanghai (for sharing). 98php.

I got introduced to Johnny's becuase of the lumpiang shanghai. Kim said they have very good lumpia here, so we tried it once. And then I was hooked. I love lumpia especially when it's crispy and has a good sauce to match it.

We also got a quarter of Fried Chicken.

Quarter fried chicken. 84php.

This has got to be my one of my favorite deep fried chicken (without breading). It's fried to perfection each and every time we eat here. The skin is crispy, the meat tender and juicy. And it has just the right amount of oiliness to it. You might say that Max's has perfect deep fried chicken too, but on more than one occasion Max's has disappointed me with the chicken being too dry. But so far at Johnny's, the chicken has always been perfect. And then partner this with banana ketchup... game over.

And Kim wanted something soft.. so she got Tempura. I don't know when Tempura started to be soft, but that was her "soft" craving for the day.

Tempura. 138php.

The Tempura wasn't really that great. It tasted like it supposed to but it was nothing special. Plus you have to go through about half of the thing before you get any shrimp at all. But I think at 138php, 5 pieces of shrimp isn't bad at all.

All in all, we paid 430php for that spread. That's why we'll always come back to Johnny's again and again. It's just a wise thing to do!

Johnny's The Fried of Marikina
3rd Floor Eastwood Cybermall