NOOOO DOUBLEEEEE DIPPINGGGGGGG!!!!!
If the tissues, wall signages, menu reminders and all that still don't get to you, then wewwww!!!
The "No Double Dipping" rule is enforced in Kushikatsu Daruma as it's a Japanese chain. In Japan, wherein shared seating is not unusual, sitting with strangers can and will happen. Traditionally, to prevent waste, Kushikatsu Daruma serves one big tub of sauce per table instead of 1 tub of sauce for each diner. One needs quite a big tub of sauce to be able to properly dip and coat the Kushikatsu, so serving one tub per diner is gonna be wasteful. Since there's just 1 tub per table, and in Japan, strangers could get seated together, which is why there is the practice of no double dipping. In Manila, there is no sharing of tables as far as I know, but this is a tradition that the Manila branch wishes to uphold.
And now, what actually is Kushikatsu?
Kushikatsu refers to delectable fried foods on sticks. It sounds so simple in theory, but the management of Kushikatsu Daruma had to send their chefs to Japan for a month to make sure they get the technique perfectly! Frying food seems so basic to us non-Japanese people, but to Japanese people, there is a lot of dynamics to frying. Japanese cooking will consider the batter, type of food being fried, type of fryer, and the things together in a fryer at a given time. Adding a new item to the fryer makes the oil a little bit cooler, so in Japanese philosophy, you'll need to know how to readjust the cooking time of all the other things in the oil with respect to the temperature change. AND I am perfectly sure there is still a much, much longer list of complexities I'll never know of hahahaha
For this laidback afternoon, the management team invited members of the press and media to sample their rice bowls and to learn about their Happy Hour items. From Mondays through Fridays at 4PM to 9PM, they have a Buy 1 Take 1 happy hour promo for their Chu Hais (Php280 for 2), and a discount on their San Miguel Pale Pilsen beers (Php50 from Php65).
Aaaand here are some snapshots of their menu just to give a general idea of the foods they serve!
The interiors are very laid back and whimsical to me. I've never been to Japan ever so I don't know what the Kushikatsu Daruma there feels like, but I think for the most part, the Manila branch is cozy and homey. The goal is to create a space that feels comforting to tired and weary salarymen as what Kushikatsu Daruma means to people in Japan. At the end of the day, people just want to recharge somewhere cozy and somewhere with hearty food. I dunno, but to me, the interiors scream Queen Utada Hikaru's "Nijikan Dake no Bakansu."
In the kitchen, the chefs are reaaallyyy busy frying. You kinda have to remember that Kushikatsu Daruma can't call itself Kushikatsu Daruma if it ain't serving a wide variety of foods in kushikatsu format. And of course, each food item they serve has a sweet spot for batter coating and frying conditions. Frying several different items with different frying times and temperatures all at the same time requires focus, practice, and commiment to precision.
And now, the tub of sauce. Since they said no double dipping, I tried to take a selfie on the reflection. Am I even making sense? No. But do I look good in my self portrait? Oh yes.
No one in Manila knows the recipe of this sauce, because they regularly fly this in from Japan! It's sure to be perfect every time because it's da real thing.
This is the basic set! It has 9 Kushikatsu Sticks featuring classic kushikatsu, prawns, chicken with garlic, chikuwa, tsukane (chicken meatballs), tonkatsu (porkloin), leeks, potato, and camembert cheese. The fun part is deciphering which one is which because they all look alike save for the shrimp that has the tail poking out! Assuming you have no allergies and are not picky with food, it's actually very fun to just randomly grab a stick, take a bite, and let it surprise you. Since they fry things so well here, everything tastes good.
And as usual, the blogger layouting. (even though deep inside I just wanted to eat everything already).
And finally, this is the moment I've been preparing my whole life for!!! The once in a lifetime chance to dip my kushikatsu! Yes, it matters, because you only get one shot at this! (although if you don't get it right, ordering more kushikatsu is always an option hahaha).
And ahhhh. Yet another Japanese way to fry foods! Or well Portuguese? If I remember correctly, Japanese people only ate boiled and steamed foods before. It was a European country that introduced frying to Japanese cooking.
But going back, tempura seems to be made of bigger panko crumbs, while this one seems to be made from the same crumbs for tonkatsu. The result is a thin, crisp, and hearty batter. I'm sure there will be people who can give a much robust explanation, but to me, this is like everything done tonkatsu style. Since tonkatsu is among my most favored foods in the world, tonkatsu style everything sounds like a really good idea to me.
This other one I tried seemed to be fish cake to me, but till now, I'm not 100% sure. I was just sure it was good.
Since Kushikatsu Daruma is all about providing hearty meals to hit the spot at the end of a tiring day, they really have a lot of focus on their rice bowls. There's gyudon, curry chicken, and of course, oyakodon right here. I purposely chose this because thus far, I've never had good Oyakodon ever.
Oyakodon is named as such because it has both chicken and egg. "Oyako" in Japanese refers to mother and child, while "Don" refers to rice bowl dishes. Oyakodon is named as such because chicken ("mother") and egg ("child") are together in a single bowl.
Oyakodon should have egg that's still partly gooey and custard-ey. It shouldn't be a dried, disheveled attempt at scrambled eggs. The problem here in the Philippines is that thus far, Oyakodon often ends up as the latter. I do understand that we can never get to Japanese gooey-ness because Japanese eggs are salmonella free (or like they claim that this is true and as such the consumption of raw egg is not a taboo), but I also do expect it to be moist.
I am sooo happy this was on the gooey side! Not as gooey as the Japanese definition of gooey, but in the Philippines, this is a keeper. The egg should be an effective sidekick to the chicken, like another form of sauce, instead of being dry and disheveled that it's like a useless prop on the side.
Personally, I felt that the sauce used was a little too salty for my liking. I was looking for a bit more of the taste of dashi, and a sweet side to the sauce. However, if one evaluates this as a dish to pair with liquor, I think this is OK as you'd normally want something a little intense to go with your drink as well.
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Aaaand, who said you needed to drink to enjoy Happy Hour? I managed to get a Chu Hai without the liquor! I reaaally enjoyed this lychee chu hai as it was refreshing, something that really helps all the oily foods go down. As a series, though, I feel that the specialty soda segment is something underrepresented in the industry today. You have all sorts of milkshakes and coffee and tea related releases, but not much on specialty sodas. I dunno, I'm just having a hard time to categorize it, but I'm not referring to just dumping the soft drink in a glass. These drinks are a mix of fruit juices, sparkling water, specialty syrups, and other things to make it really unique and refreshing. The carbonated water really helps to make the oily foods go down, and the flavors they have, like apple bubblegum, mango blackberry, mikan, help to clean the palette in my opinion.
Aaaand don't forget that on weekdays, from 4-9PM, buy 1 take 1 on Chu Hai's so don't miss out!!!
Definitely, if only distance were not an issue, I really need to be taken back to this place! Ever since going here for the first time, all I can think about all week long are the kushikatsu sticks!!! And the chu hai!!! I was supposed to order Apple Bubblegum last time, but since it was not available, there is this burning desire to go back and make sure I get to try it hahaha.
So yeah, this is at the 2nd floor of Uptown Mall BGC. See you guys there when I see you.
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