Ginza Bairin, Modern Japanese Katsu House

Sometime last year, we went to UP Town Center to try a newly opened modern Japanese Katsu house, Ginza Bairin.  Katipunan and UP Town Center might be accessible to people living and studying in Ateneo de Manila or UP Diliman but did you know that it is a new lifestyle hub in Quezon City? It's surrounded with premium shops and restaurants. I saw Cotton On the soon to open Aeropostale. There's my favorite J.CO, another coffee shop I have yet to try Highlands Coffee.

With first branch along Glorietta, this famous katsu house expands to UP Town Center to serve customers of Katipunan, Quezon City and nearby areas.

You can have authentic katsu such as: Tonkatsu or pork cutlet, Katsu Sando, an original Ginza Bairin creation of crisp hire katsu sandwiched between soft, freshly baked bread and seasoned with two special sauces.

The restaurant serves  delicious Rosu Katsu and Hiroshima Oyster. They have delectable dishes from seafood, pork and vegetable. What I like most at Ginza are the Mixed Sets complete with miso soup and rice.

Ginza Bairin Vegetarion Kushi Katsu Set

Simple Menchi Katsu with Cheese Set (P375)

Menchi Katsu with Cheese Curry Set 

Special Katsudon

Special Katsudon  is said to be the number one Donburi in Japan; meat very tender with fragrant Japanese rice topped with flavorful sauce and a serving of fresh eggs.

We started our meal with a traditional Japanese appetizer of cold silken tofu with a variety of toppings followed by Kani Mango Salad, the marriage of kani, ripe mango, mixed greens, ebiko (prawn roe), fresh tomato and Japanese mayo.

  Traditional Japanese appetizer of cold silken tofu

Kani Mango Salad

We had the Premium Seafood Set which includes succulent Hiroshima oyster, jumbo US Sea Scallop, Black Tiger Prawn and the luxurious Kani Cream Korokke.

 Chawan Mushi (P100)

Served in a small cup like a teacup is a mouthwatering Chawan Mushi (P100) made of a smooth egg custard with seafood. It taste really good.

chopped cabbage into a fine julienne. 

The dishes offer excellent value, particularly the set meals but it also comes in ala carte.

For those who are into an all-vegetable diet, I recommend Ginza Bairin's Vegetarion Kushi Katsu. It has eggplant, green capsicum, pumpkin, sweet onion and quail egg in skewers, fried and drizzled with a delightful mirin sauce.

Of course, a meal is not complete without dessert. We had Matcha Vanilla Panna Cotta, green tea with a creamy vanilla custard and a touch of delightful citrus.

Matcha Vanilla Panna Cotta

There's always a reason to visit Ginza Bairin in Glorietta or U.P Town Center. As of now, there are two branches and we're hoping to see more this year.

I've been hearing about Ginza Bairin for quite some time now, indeed Ginza Bairin is one of the best katsu hause in the country. How about you? Have you tried Ginza Bairin? Share your thought and leave a comment.


Ginza Bairin
U.P. Town Center and Glorietta 2, Makati