Fried Chicken Venture TETSUO Closes Original Katipunan Shop
They've been serving up street-style visuals and umami bombs in the area since 2018.
(SPOT.ph) It's not uncommon in these times for food ventures to go far and beyond the food aspect to enter other realms—visuals, apparel, even music. This is an art the folks of TETSUO have pretty much nailed, and the cool kids on the block they are for it. Their Katipunan shop has been a popular hangout since it opened in 2018, amassing regulars (mostly students from the nearby universities and other young folks) with the way they bring together cool merch, cyberpunk visuals, and a modern Japanese-style food lineup, at the center of which is their savory-crisp Umami Fried Chicken. Sadly, the brand has announced they've closed their original Esteban Abada outpost.
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TETSUO Katipunan says goodbye
The brand announced the closure on social media today, May 30. "Our home of eight years closes today," they write. "TETSUO Katipunan [on] 88 Esteban Abada Street was a wild ride and we’d like to thank all our friends and customers who supported us throughout those years. We hope to see you sooner rather than later." Throwback photos from their first day open are attached to the post, too.
Thankfully, they're not going fully away. TETSUO has a second branch in Poblacion, which remains open.
The venture is best known for their fried chicken, which goes by the American style for the most part but incoporates umami and Japanese spice mixes on the flavor front. Supplementing that on their menu are baos, karaage (distinct from their signature fried bird), rice and noodle bowls, and other casual plates with Japanese inflections, designed to appeal to modern sensibilities. It was originally born as a project at the Mercato food market and opened a stall at the John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center at Ateneo de Manila; TETSUO formally opened a physical dine-in spot and shop in Katipunan in 2018.