Try Karate Kid

Despite a limited budget, hubby and I make it a point to eat out every now and then. This pleasurable activity is also enjoyed by my sis and niece. One of our fave eating places nowadays is Karate Kid in SM Sta. Rosa.

If you want no fuss, semi-Filipinized Jap food that tastes great and is budget-friendly, this is the place to go. I'm sure there are branches of this franchise in other malls -- we just haven't tried them elsewhere.

I love their newest offering, the Fish Katsu which tastes really fresh, comes hot and crispy, with rice, a side dish of mixed veggies and your choice of tartar mayo or wasabi mayo sauce. I tell you, their portions are huge for an asian fastfood offering. The photo of the dish is a realistic depiction of what they serve you. They beat Tokyo Tokyo anytime. I also love their red iced tea which, according to them, is real brewed tea with fruit. It's my fave iced tea so far and I'm beginning to crave for a bottomless order in this heat!

Hubby loves their Chicken Yakisoba and Gyoza. The Yakisoba is almost good for two people and is sooo tasty! It comes with grilled chicken bits and veggies so the whole dish is well worth your hunger. The Gyoza tastes better than those we've tried, even in Japan. I don't know, maybe their chef just got our tastes spot on.

We've also tried their rice bowl toppings and california maki and they don't disappoint. Perhaps they can try making the maki a tad bigger to fill us up, although I doubt it will fit my mouth in one go.

And while sampling their food, we enjoy our usual people watching, especially the kids who always fall for the huge Karate Kid statue. They never fail to dip their tiny hands into the rice bowl of Mr. Karate Kid and pretend they're eating from it. Cute!

I must also commend the manager of the SM Sta. Rosa branch for being friendly and professional, and for still honoring our expired free meal ticket. It was a great freebie at P200, which gave us two full meals plus iced tea. Not bad for a couple on a tight budget.