Green Tea Oh How I Love Thee

A couple of weeks ago, the Cheese and I visited the newly opened Ayala mall in Katipunan area - UP Town Center. Finally may mall na ang Katipunan universities! Medyo sad lang cos it's really beside UP IS and I saw they opened the gate of the school to accommodate more cars since parking is already full in the mall's designated parking area (this was on a Sunday). I wonder if UP admin is aware of this hmm.

Anyway, as expected a lot of the stores are still closed, others with On Soft Opening and Cash Only signs hanging on their doors. We checked out the second floor too but a lot of the establishments are still closed so we went back to ground floor (yes there are only 2 floors in this mall) and just spent a bit of time looking around Cotton On.

Then the most awaited green tea icecream from Family Mart! For 25 pesos, you get to taste one of Japan's most famous goods. You can choose between Vanilla, Green Tea or a mixture of both. I obviously went for all green tea.

Please excuse my over eager face.

Then last week, we went back again to Family Mart, biking all the way from Visayas, crossed Tandang Sora-Commonwealth intersection then finally Katipunan on a hot, HOT day. No regrets. Only green tea.

Payday Lunch Series: Saboten

Aaaand we're back after a short hiatus. To kick off our reunion, we chose Japanese food - Saboten. I have to admit I discovered the Saboten hype from Chuvaness. She tweets and blogs often about it, never fails to eat in countries where there is one. It was so funny when I went to Hong Kong in 2011 I was kinda fixed into testing what Saboten is all about as there is one in HKIA departure lounge but I chickened out at the last minute, fazed by all the $$$ I was seeing hahaha.

When the news circulated that there'll be a Manila branch I was ecstatic! Would you believe it wasn't as fancy as I thought it would be? Probably because Yabu rate has already prepped me for it lol. Saboten has more expensive choice of set meals but all in all, the price range aren't too far off. Okay tama na baka magalit ang Saboten sabihin kinukumpara ko sila sa Yabu. 

More than the zen and interior design, I especially loved the fact that they hand out complimentary teas once customers have settled in on their seats. No need to beg for it. Plus points na agad!

So we ordered the following:

Mixed Set (1 Deep-Fried Shrimp, 1 30g enderloin Cutlet and 1 Crab Cream Croquette).

Grated Radish Tenderloin Set

Tenderloin and Loin Set (1 Tenderloin Cutlet 50g. and 1 Loin Cutlet 65g.)

Ten and Romy.

Gotta love the unlimited serving of cabbage in one huge bowl. So even if you didn't order a set meal (which automatically included the unlimited cabbage), you can be sure to have a go at it still. If there's one thing though that was a bit off about Saboten, it's that their meat cuts are too big (for our mouths haha). I think that could do an improving. Unless they don't want to. Okay.

For dessert we ordered the Vanilla with Black Honey and Green Tea Ice Cream Combination (75 pesos only!). Unfortunately, their green tea was not the green tea I had in mind. It was rather milky than tea-y. Buti na lang vanilla saved the day :)

All in all our Saboten experience was really good. The waiters were prompt and really attentive. They announce your food and how best to enjoy it by suggesting ways on what seasoning to use. But I gotta say, aside from that, there really isn't anything special about it. It's hard not to compare Saboten to Yabu when the latter has been here for a while now. Our taste buds has gotten accustomed to Yabu that Saboten is just like one of those katsu house. Maybe we should try the other specials just to be fair...

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Saboten
G/F Serendra, McKinley Parkway
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
(02) 625-2000