Category: Lifestyle

Crazy Katsu was a small restaurant but it certainly has a homey ambiance.  The place was filled with wooden tables and benches.  I liked the simplistic design.

Crazy Katsu is owned by musicians Shinji Tanaka (drummer, Gaijin) & Bryan Kong (drummer, Taken by Cars).  It explains the list of CDs displayed on the restaurant.  We were too busy taking pictures that I wasn’t able to browse through the list of albums.  I should check them out when I go back (yes, I plan to!).

The wall piece at Crazy Katsu was really eye-catching!  The lighting made it look much better so it’s not surprising that we used that as background for most of our pictures there.

The restaurant had simple interiors, and their food menu is just as simple.  They had a one-pager straight to the point menu that listed down Crazy Katsu’s specialties.  There were just 5 of us, but we almost ordered everything that Crazy Katsu had, hahaha!  So here is a list of things we tried out.  Everything was delicious and it made me glad that we took a chance in trying out the place.

• Gyoza (Php 120)

Do you know that Crazy Katsu would everyday make their gyoza from scratch?  That explains why I enjoyed this dish very much!  We ordered gyoza for appetizer and it was the first dish that we tried out.  It paved the way for more exciting dishes to try out.

• Fish & Vegetable Tempura (Php 140)

All Crazy Katsu dishes are served with a cup of rice.  I guess they were meant to be eaten by 1 person.  However, we wanted to try out all food items we ordered.  Whether you decide for them to take out the rice, the price would be the same.  So, we kept the rice for the fish & vegetable tempura.

• Iced Tea (Php 30)

Their iced tea was home-brewed!  I still thought it was a bit on the sweet side though.

• Chicken Katsu (Php 145)

The house specialty is Chicken Katsu.  I must agree!  Crazy Katsu’s chicken Katsu was unique.  The soy-sauce that they poured over the dish plus the spiciness of it made it a winner in my book.  If there’s one dish that you should try out in Crazy Katsu, this must be it!

• Katsudon (Php 150)

I wanted to have Chicken Katsu but I saw that everyone ordered Sukiyaki for themselves.  I wanted to try out as many dishes as possible so I went for Katsudon.  It’s pan-fried pork cutlets, onions, and egg on top of rice.  I didn’t like the dish that much.  I guess it has something to do with my lingering taste for their chicken katsu.

• Sukiyaki (Php 190)

Oh, the sukiyaki!  The only beef dish that Crazy Katsu serves.  This was definitely a hit!  I was able to try it and I must say it was tasty and oozing with flavors.

• Pudding (Php 80)

I LOVE Crazy Katsu’s pudding or shall I say, ‘Leche Flan’.  The chef made this perfectly and I’m not exaggerating!  It has the right amount of sweetness and texture.  We ordered for sharing because we were too full already.  It’s a good way to end an excellent meal.

There are certainly lots of reasons why I want to go back to Crazy Katsu.  Aside from the yummy and affordable food that the restaurant serves.  Crazy Katsu also has a pool of friendly staff!  Service is definitely top-notch.  Kudos to the owners for training them well 🙂

For huge fans out there, Crazy Katsu sells its own T-Shirt designed by Team Manila for Php 500.

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Crazy Katsu
#81 Maginhawa St. UP Teacher’s Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
+63-2-435-0030
Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11am-11pm & Sun 5pm-10pm

Sunday is Lord’s day for us Christians.  Yesterday, we decided to have breakfast at Cafe France before attending Lord’s day.  It’s funny that in spite of Cafe France running for more than 1 year, I haven’t heard of it.  However, as soon as we parked the car in front of its U.N. Manila branch, I noticed that it must be Delifrance rebranded.

Apparently, I was right!  Jollibee who used to own Delifrance franchise in the Philippines sold its Delifrance assets to Euro-Med Philippines last December 2010.  Since then, existing Delifrance branches were changed to Cafe France, giving it a new image.  Filipinos love to hang out at Cafes and rebranding Delifrance into a coffee shop will tap more customers in the Metro.

Cafe France still served French style baked products like croissants, baguettes, etc.  You can either buy those products for take out or order for dine in.

We decided to order some of Cafe France’s breakfast sets for dine in.  Price is a bit steep for my taste but my companions seemed to like the restaurant.  Service is good though.  Without asking for water, we were even served it.  Servers were easy to call out for any requests.

Cafe France has decent ambiance too with refreshing colors and well-maintained interiors.

• Egg Salad Sandwich (Php 155)

Brother Joseph ordered egg salad sandwich.  It looked like a club sandwich with potato chips on the side.  I’m not fond of sandwiches but I really liked that Cafe France decided to put potato chips with their sandwich sets instead of the usual french fries.  Suffice to say, I took some of my friend’s potato chips 😛

• Ham and Cheese Omelet (Php 185)

Sister Shilo ordered Ham and Cheese omelet.  With a whopping price of Php 185, I’m not really sure if it was worth the price.  I guess the whole brand and quality of preparation attributed to the tag price.  It was basically ham and grated cheese wrapped in scrambled egg, served with 2 pieces of bread on the side.

Rice Meals

Siobs Debbie and I ordered rice meals.  I ordered beef while Debbie ordered fish.  Cafe France’s rice meals had several options.  You can either order a la carte, with soft drink (+Php20) or with juice/coffee (+Php50).  I’ve always enjoyed Delifrance’s orange juice so it didn’t take much time for me to decide to order the one with orange juice.

• Breakfast Beef & Egg (Php 175)

I was expecting tapa (Filipino-style beef) but was surprised that it actually was Japanese-style beef.  Fatty beef strips that were cooked in butter – unhealthy but oh so tasty! 🙂  My order came with salad, two sunny side-up eggs and rice.

• Fish Fillet in Tartare Sauce (Php 175)

I almost ordered fish fillet and I was relieved that I have chosen beef over it.  Cafe France gave generous servings of the fish.  However, I guess I didn’t appreciate that they cut thinner strips of fish as usual.  I prefer the bigger rectangular cut but I think this all boils down to preference.  Still, a successful dish as my friend enjoyed her order and finished it!

We had breakfast early in the morning and I looked newly awake.  Still! hahaha!  Anyway, I had a great time with church friends.  I’m especially glad because I get to spend more time with Debbie as our barkada don’t go out that much anymore since most of them got married recently.

As I write this post, I remember that yesterday I saw three different Cafe France branches.  So funny that I decided to immediately write this review over other stories that I need to write quickly.  We had breakfast at Cafe France U.N. branch, saw another branch when we visited a church friend at Metropolitan Hospital in Manila and lastly, saw another Cafe France at MOA while we were strolling around the mall.

So, that was my experience yesterday with Cafe France.  Oh, and by the way, the U.N. branch is open 24 hours daily.

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Cafe France
U.N. Ave. Maria Orosa St., Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
+63-2-523-5555

In our office, almost everyone watches basketball, and they are most passionate about UAAP games.  I guess everyone has a certain pride with their alma mater.  And who doesn’t like to eat?  With a passion for both basketball and food, I’m pretty sure that knowing former De la Salle green archer member Marko Batricevic opened a restaurant will bring in fans to the place.

This was actually the pitch when I got invited to try out Balkan.  I was both excited to try out Yugoslavian cuisine as well as to meet Marko.  When I first saw the owner, I was shocked!  He is tall, like 6 foot 5 inches tall! :O

He shared with us that the Makati branch is their second Balkan restaurant.  They first opened Balkan Express in San Juan and it was a huge success considering Marko got his ROI in three months!  Wow!  Three months!  Restaurants usually gets their ROI in 1-2 years but Balkan Express got theirs in so little time!  It triggered my curiosity even more.  What is with Balkan that made it so successful?

I surveyed the restaurant and immediately noticed the unique design of the ceiling.  I haven’t been to any of the Balkan countries, but I suspect there’s something very traditional about the ceiling design.

The Balkan Makati branch has a relaxing ambiance and definitely considered to be a comfort place.  There are photos of notable people and places in Serbia.  It somehow gave us a glimpse of where Marko was from.

How about the food?  What makes Yugoslavian cuisine unique?  As I learned and noticed while we dined at Balkan, they weren’t focused on presentation.  What’s really nice and I believe most of us dining customers would appreciate more is Balkan’s huge servings on their dishes plus the price, is really affordable!  I wonder how they made money since they are really generous with the food that they serve.

Have you tried Yugoslavian food?  It was my first time to try out and I’m sure it won’t be my last…

• Goulash (Php 250)

The beauty of being able to try out different restaurants is knowing the history of each of them.  Like Balkan for example, it was my first time to dine in a Yugoslavian restaurant.  I came to know that Goulash is apparently a classic beef stew of the Balkans.

The goulash is made of lean beef, onions, and paprika served with noodles.

The wonderful soup is best eaten with Balkan Bread.

From the Grill

• Pljeskavica (Php 200)

I had to wait for the bloggers to cut the burger so that I can show you through a photo how mouth-watering the dish looked like.  Pljeskavica is a traditional serbian hamburger served with home made sauce, tomato, lettuce, onion, and french fries.

• Stuffed Pljeskavica (Php 320)

If you’re like me who prefers rice over sandwiches or buns, then I suggest you order this stuffed version of Pljeskavica.  Boy, once you cut the burger half?  You’ll see the mozzarella cheese coming out.  Oh I promise you’ll have a good time eating this dish.  Just by the looks of it, while I’m trying to describe this dish, my stomach is already starting to growl..

• Batak (Php 290)

While everyone had a portion of each and every dish, I was lucky enough to have an order of Batak all by myself.  Batak is boneless chicken thigh, grilled to perfection and topped with melted mozzarella.  I was totally saying ‘delicious’ all the time that I was eating the dish.  My gosh, I never thought that Serbian/Yugoslavian dish like batak can taste this good.  The meat was very tender and every part of this chicken meat was oozing with so much flavors.

Clay Pot Dishes

• Butkice (Php 650)

Tasty pork knuckles served with baked potatoes and carrots (good for 2-3).

Everyone was raving about this dish!  When bloggers were asked which dish they liked the most, it seemed that the pork knuckles were a clear winner!  I always thought that pork knuckles are best eaten fried.  Apparently, baked pork knuckles work wonders too!  I was able to taste one small piece of this.  In spite of tasting the dish after 1 hour of being served, and feeling satisfied still, then this must be something.  Balkan’s butkice/pork knuckles is a must order friends!  Don’t forget this!

• Sarma (Php 260)

Pickled cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef, rice and spices served on a bed of mashed potatoes sprinkled with paprika.

I’ll make sure I’ll order Sarma next time as I wasn’t able to taste this during the foodie meet.  Balkan’s San Juan branch will be my next destination as it was there where Balkan started and became successful.

Lamb

• Jagnjetina (Php 700)

Jagnjetina is Balkan’s House Specialty.  It’s imported baked lamb that is very tender that it falls off the bone.

One thing that you have to know is that Yugoslavian cooking doesn’t involve frying.  All they do with food is either grilling or baking which I think makes it a bit healthier comparing to other cuisines.

Salads

• Sopska (Php 200)

Sopska is a salad that has cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and olives on a bed of lettuce and cheese.

You might be wondering why I put sopska after the soup and main dishes.  You see Yugoslavian dining culture involves eating salads with or after the main dishes.  You might wanna do the same when you try Balkan yourself (just to have a complete Yugoslavian food experience).

Desserts

For dessert, we tried two types of crepes.  I prefer the nutella crepe among the two that were served. 🙂

• Palacinke (Php 120)

Traditional Serbian crepes with fruit jam.

Traditional Serbian crepes filled with Nutella.

So that’s a preview of what you can indulge in Balkan Restaurants.  Don’t forget to order wine and mind you, the wine costs less than Php200.  I don’t drink alcohol but I know I need to suggest Balkan’s wine to you all as I saw my foodie friends enjoying theirs.

Delicious, flavorful, unique and generously-filled dishes are things you can expect from Balkan Restaurant.  I’m making my visit to Balkan Express real soon and I already have a list of dishes to order in my mind.  How about you?

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Balkan Yugoslavian Home Cooking
G/F Maripola Building, 109 Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines
+63-2-846-0744