With the many, many Japanese restaurants in PIK area selling delicious menu focusing on different Japanese cuisine ranging from sushi, ramen to donburi, there is one category that is still missing from the numerous already established restaurants, the katsu category. Enters Genbu Premium Katsu & Bar, a newly opened Japanese restaurant in PIK that focuses on premium katsu as their signature menu.

I visited Genbu with my friend, Winda (@munchandsnap.jkt), early last week a couple of days before their grand opening on June 10th. We went for an early lunch on a Monday so the place was pretty quiet when we got there. I think we were the first patron of the day since no other patrons were there when we arrived.

The Ambience

First off, I love the interior of the place. The high ceiling Japanese inspired space is decorated with modern wooden furnitures and designer lantern lamps hanging on the walls. There’s also this huge beautiful Japanese artwork that is displayed on one side of the wall of the main dining area. The whole warm wood and neutral colors combination really give a nice modern cool vibes to the place.

Also, a couple of other things that I appreciate, first, they have these light panels installed on the roof of the main dining area which create a soft lighting for the space. From photography perspective, this is like the best lighting set up to take pictures of your food. I got some awesome shots with the lighting of this place with my camera and my iPhone.

Secondly, I noticed despite of the high ceiling, the place has the right temperature. It wasn’t too hot or too cold (although the weather was kind of cloudy when we were there, but still, it was nice inside), which is always appreciated because sometimes places in PIK can get pretty hot inside.

After we got seated at our table, they gave each of us a welcome drink. A small cup of cold refreshing hojicha that tasted pretty good. Very earthy and smokey. A properly brewed hojicha I would say.

The Food

Now let’s talk about the food. We tried a couple of different things from the menu (which has a really nice photography by the way).

Croquette à la Crème (IDR 99) | 8/10

Starting with the appetizer, Croquette à la Crème (Prawn Cream Croquette). A day before my visit, one of my cousins actually posted on his Instagram that he had dinner at this place and loved it. So I messaged him and asked what are the things I must try from the menu. He liked the pork katsu he ordered, but then he LOVED their croquette. Apparently it’s one of the best thing from his meal, so we ordered the croquette.

The croquette comes in three fairly big pieces that each is sliced diagonally into two pieces. I’m usually not a big fan of croquette, but after I took my first bite, I understand why my cousin gushed so much about this croquette. The breading is light, crispy and flaky. And when you bite into the piece, it’s definitely different than the usual croquette that I’ve had in the past which usually consist of thick mashed potatoes and feels heavy. This one is light and creamy (but not too creamy) and you can definitely taste the prawn mixed in the sauce. It was really good and tasty. On a side note, the portion of the croquette is surprisingly bigger that what I expected. If you’re eating alone and want to order this as an appetizer, the portion might be a little big. But I think it is perfect for sharing with 2-3 people if you come in a group.

Galician Sirloin Tonkatsu Set (IDR 179) | 8/10

For the mains, first up, we had the Galician Sirloin Tonkatsu Set. The set comes with cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, japanese pickles, and akamiso soup. The pork meat is Spanish Galician pork, imported from Spain (most of the meat used for their menus are imported from Japan, Spain, or US apparently).

Again, the breading is light, flaky and crispy. It’s the type of crispiness that won’t hurt the roof of your mouth after your meal. Later on I found out from the owner that they actually make their own panko and how it absorb less oil which is why the breading came up light, flaky and crispy without being too oily. The meat is well seasoned and perfectly cooked. It has the right amount of tenderness and juiciness to it, cut just in the right size and the portion is pretty generous. It was a good, solid tonkatsu.

For the sides, the rice is perfectly cooked (I love a good rice). The akamiso soup (that’s red miso soup if you’re not fluent in Japanese like I do) was flavorful. It has a slightly richer and thicker taste than regular miso soup. The potato salad was good. They use potatoes with carrots for the ingredients. Although it was more like a potato puree/mash for me. Texture wise, it was too smooth and too much of a puree. But the owner said he might change it up and add bits and chunks of the carrot into it so the potato salad will have more texture to it. The Japanese pickle was also good. When I eat it, I can feel that they put a lot of thought and effort into the flavors and it doesn’t feel like they just have pickles for the sake of having pickles, you know.

They also have their own sauces that they developed in-house. The first one is their tonkatsu sauce that’s recommended to be mixed with ground sesame for the dipping sauce of the tonkatsu cutlet. Texture wise, it’s a little bit on the thick side for me. I wished it was a little less thick. Taste wise, it tasted okay. It’s not bad by all means, but it’s not something unique that I haven’t tasted before either. I think they use tomatoes as a base if I’m not mistaken (thus the more reddish color) and the flavor kind of reminded me of barbecue sauce to be honest. It’s just alright. The owner did say that they’re still refining the sauce because he himself is still not too happy about it. So maybe now there’s a different version of the sauce.

For the salad, they have two dressings, the Wafu-Yuzu salad dressing which has a more sweet and citrusy flavor, and the Goma-Dare salad dressing which has a more creamy and nutty flavor. These two were pretty good. Depending on your preference, you have good dressing options for your salad.

Divine Dragons Ebi Furai Set (229k) | 8.5/10

Next up, we have the Divine Dragons Ebi Furai Set which consists of 3 huge pieces of Black Tiger Prawn furai and comes with tartar sauce, cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, Japanese pickles, and akamiso soup. This was probably one of the most satisfying ebi furai that I’ve had in a long time. The size of of Black Tiger Prawns were big and they were meaty (they are really generous with their portion, truly). The prawns were nicely cook with, again, perfect breading. The tartar sauce was also nice, light yet rich and creamy and complimented the prawns wonderfully. I might be a little biased since I was also craving prawn that day but I think this was the menu I enjoyed the most during my visit. (And now writing this post at almost midnight and thinking about this made my stomach growl.)

Sirloin Gyukatsu SET (IDR 249) | 7/10

Last of the mains is Sirloin Gyukatsu Set which consist of US Sirloin cutlet with the sides of cabbage salad, rice, potato salad, Japanese pickles, and akamiso soup.

Okay, right off the bat, I need to say that I don’t think I’ve had any good gyukatsu in Jakarta that is comparable to my favorite gyukatsu in Seoul (Izawa is still my favorite so far. And I haven’t tried Motomura, but some friends who have said Izawa is better. So do with that information what you will). And that record seems to be extending even after I tried Genbu’s sirloin gyukatsu.

The biggest problem I have with gyukatsu in Jakarta is that their breading always came off of the meat when grilled. For some reason, it sticks to the grill instead of the meat and thus making the whole appearance of the gyukatsu cut unappealing after being flipped on the grill (maybe it' has something to do with the panko and how they cut the pieces? idk).

Unfortunately, the same case happened with Genbu’s gyukatsu as well. The breading fell off the meat and stuck to the grill, which make the whole grilling and eating experience a little inconvenient and visually unappealing. The meat is also cut too thin/narrow and weirdly at an angle that made it hard to keep the meat side staying flat on the grill. I just realized now too that the way our meat was cut is different than the picture on the menu, so maybe this was a mistake? I’m not sure and honestly, I didn’t ask since the falling out breading was the topic of discussion with the owner after we gave them our feedback about our meal.

Having said that, I got to say, their meat was really good though. I recently had gyukatsu at one of Jakarta’s popular sushi place (the place where they play the same playlist on all their locations. iykyk) and Genbu’s meat cut is definitely superior than the other restaurant. The meat was nice, tender and juicy, which kind of made up for the breading issue. Honestly, I would really order this menu again if I could just do the gyu without the katsu.

Also, one of the thing that made me gave the gyukatsu 7/10 and the chance to reorder this menu again is their dipping sauce and salt. Oh. My. Gosh. Let me talk about the sauce first (it’s the middle one on the sauce dish next to the gyukatsu and the ebi furai in the picture below). The gyukatsu sauce is probably one of the most unique sauce I’ve ever tasted so far for a gyukatsu. It has sesame oil, a little citrusy flavor and other secret ingredients (the owner’s words, not mine) that are mixed into it.

When you eat the meat with just the sauce, it’s really good. I remembered being pleasantly surprised after my first bite when tasting it. And then I went in again, now dipping the meat with just the salt. And what do you know, the salt is also super nice! I don’t know how to properly describe this salt, but it’s definitely better and more delicious that regular salt you find at barbecue restaurants. And then I went in again, this time dipping the meat in the sauce AND the salt. And it was just, wow. A new flavor combination was born from the combination of the two. It was really, really good. And just because my little experiment of mixing the sauce and salt went so well, I added the wasabi to the mix as well. And what do you know! Another layer of flavor was added to the mix! It was such a good delicious bite honestly.

So as much as I don’t really care for the breading of the gyukatsu, the meat and the dipping sauce really made up for that and that’s why I think it deserves another chance for reorder in the future.

Signature Cocktail

Emperor's Heirloom (140k) | 8/10

One of Genbu’s signature cocktail is Emperor's Heirloom which is made from Roku Gin, pear nectar, and chrysanthemum flower. I took a sip to try and it was sweet, smooth and definitely strong. I’m not much of a drinker in general, so my rating for this cocktail is based on how much I enjoyed the flavor, which is very I should say.

Desserts | 5/10

For desserts, I tried their Hokkaido Pudding (IDR 30) and Houjicha Mochi Ice Cream (IDR 30) since that were the only two options available then. The pudding and mochi ice cream are outsourced and they tasted alright. The Hokkaido pudding tasted like any other Hokkaido Pudding at other Japanese restaurants. The mochi was nice and chewy and the houjicha flavor was really strong. They have now added parfait as new dessert options to the menu so that might be something to try on my next visit.

All and all, it was a really good meal. Everything was tasty and delicious. The price of the menu is on the higher side but considering the premium ingredients and the generous portion, I think it makes sense. The servers were friendly and attentive and the service was great.

We also had a chance to chat a little bit with the friendly owner after our meal and gave our inputs and feedbacks. Since it was still during the soft opening period, he told us that they’re still making adjustments to the menu according to the feedback received. So now that they have officially opened for the public, I’d imagine there are probably some changes and improvements to the food/menu.

If you’re looking for a great katsu restaurant in PIK area, I’d definitely recommend trying this place out.