Kayaba

I am so sad this is permanently closed, it was my favorite restaurant at the Mitsuwa food court. I will really miss it.

Huge chicken katsu portions! Plus it comes with soup. C’mon now. A girl can only fill so much in her belly! If you eat the whole thing, you’re going to be rolling out of Mitsuwa. …just like I was because I did eat the whole darn thing! I’m a beast, what can I say. I did give my miso soup to a friend though… so that has to slightly bring down my beast monster rating.
The food at Kayaba is very delicious. I love the chicken katsu I had — it was done perfectly with the tasty Japanese BBQ sauce I doused the whole protein in. And for under $ 10 it can feed you for both lunch & dinner unless you’re a mountain beast like myself. Nomz!

Their tonkatsu is still good after all these years, however I’ve noticed they are just slightly getting smaller and smaller. I usually get the Berkshire Pork and it’s pretty decent.

So usually when I go to Mitsuwa I stick with Santouka for their ramen, this time I decided to try Kayaba and good thing I did. Their katsu-​don or fried pork, with egg and rice was amazing, horrible for you, but mouth watering and amazing. Better yet $ 7 for a huge portion of delicious food. Thats value.
⁵⁄₅

Kayaba is in Mitsuwa. I have been here 2 times the first time will be this review. And the 2^nd below that. I got the katsu don. This is a dish that has onions rice pork and a sweeter sauce. It was very tasty and came with a bland version of miso soup. Quite expensive for what you get. Other restaurants would include a side salad. The reason for the rate is 1 the wait was extreme for what they were cooking. 2 the price. 3 the service the women who took the order was rushing me and there was no one behind me.
So why did I come back you ask. So the food was pretty ok and this counter had no line. So as I was on my lunch break I thought what the heck lets go with it. (Bad idea)
I dont know the name of the dish but it was the rice dish with 2 shrimp tempura s on top. It came withe the same bland miso. Here is the the thing I waited 20 min for a bowl of rice and a spash of sauce and to cold limp shrimp. 20 minutes. Worst taste will never go again. I asked the guy at counter why taking so long he said he would go check and never came back until my cold food was given to me. I complained that it was cold he said whay do you want me to do about. The dish was 6.00 but again big bowl of rice.

During a trip to Mitsuwa, my friends and I decided to do lunch in the food court. I wanted ramen but the line for Santouka was too long so I opted out for Kayaba (to the right of Santouka). I order the bowl of katsu (#17) with miso soup and it was $ 7. It is a bowl of rice with chicken katsu and egg w/​onion. The food came out pretty fast. I enjoyed the bowl of katsu and it was actually a lot for me so I packed the rest in a box to take home. The meat was a bit chewy but it was pretty cripsy! I really like that it came with the scrambled egg w/​onion.
CASH ONLY.

Disclaimer: I gave 3.5 stars, but I don’t think negatively about this place. In fact, I’m just critical when it comes to Japanese food. I’m not Japanese by heritage, but I grew up with eating lots of Japanese food.
However, I’m excited for the presence of Japanese Market like Mitsuwa in the Chicago suburb. Kayaba locates in the food court. Please remember that they only accept cash.
We ordered the kitsune udon and kagiake udon. They both tasted authentic, but there was nothing else to it. By no means, the food here isn’t the gourmet quality, yet certainly we can taste a piece of Japan if you’ve visited the country before or just know what I’m talking about.
Their temporary business hours are not continuous; they don’t open from 1400 hour to 1530 hour. However, they will take your order until 1400 hour hits and will continue making your food. Don’t be alerted if you see the lights go off. They just want to give customers a heads up.
I personally think it’s an excellent alternative to other American fast food places. However, they are not as cheap as Mexican tacos, but I definitely prefer a hot udon soup over tacos for the winter season.

Kayaba always have a very good food. I really like their Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura Udon Soup and something else that I can’t remember the name, at the moment.

Good Japanese dishes. Located inside Mitsuwa Market. Cash only. Plenty of parking. Hard to find table in this food court

We always make a point to eat at the food court whenever we find ourselves at Mitsuwa. It opens at 11am on Sunday so we had time to shop beforehand. Hubby liked the udon here. I got the deep fried Berkshire Pork Cutlet. It comes with a sweet dipping sauce, spicy mustard, miso soup, and rice. Everything is made to order, so be prepared to wait 10 – 15 minutes for your number to be called out… and that was when it first opened, I can’t imagine the wait during peak dining hours. The ramen place next door had a line 8 people deep when we ordered. The cutlet was hot, fried to perfection, and juicy. The udon was tasty as well.

Aaaand I’m back in Japan again. Let me tell you, when I learned that pork cutlet curry is considered one of the national dishes of Japan I was pretty surprised. But also relieved because it’s one of the few things that my fish-​allergic wife was able to eat without worry during our recent trip abroad. After a week of scrutinizing everything we ordered for traces of the finned creatures, it was a relief to find something we both enjoyed and were able to eat.
Kayaba took us back to our recent trip and serves up a mean pork tonkatsu curry rice dish. It’s a bit sweeter than the ones we had in Japan, but tasty nonetheless. I will absolutely order it again during our next trip to MItsuwa and any time I’m hankering for this unique dish of Tokyo.

The choices of Asians foods stations offers a great menu to wet your appetite. Photo style menu gives U the visual preview of what’s to come.

Lately this place has gone crazy with cost cutting, Much like the airline meals. Used to have good food. Regardless if the price, food quality and portions have gone way down. Katsu are thin meat and bad breading. Condiments have been cut down to stingy in portions. Miso soup is like watered down soup with pea size tofu. Feels like a kids meal for $ 10. We drive from south side on toll road, it’s no longer worth the time nor the money to come here and order the kids portion food. Not fooling us again.

Great food and great value. I love their Soba Noodle bowls with various toppings. The Pork Tonkatsu meal is also quite tasty — it comes with a cup of Miso Soup, a little scoop of potato salad, rice, shredded raw cabbage and, of course, the Pork Tonkatsu cutlet. For a lighter lunch the Hubs & I will split this meal. The only downside is trying to find a table at the packed Mitsuwa food court during peak meal times.

Tasty udon! I think this is a great lunch spot in the Mitsuwa food court. The wait can be a bit long when the place is busy, but for a hot, delicious bowl of udon, I think it’s worth the wait.
I had shrimp tempura udon and the shrimp tasted fresh, the broth was full of flavor and the noodles were chewy and delicious. I nearly polished off very last bit of broth!
They have a pretty big menu and while there are other places in the food court I would like to try, I know the udon will keep me coming back for more.

Always my favorite spot in the Mitsuwa food court. I am a fan of the udon with tempura shrimp; the ropy noodles are fun to slurp. Mybe it’s me but the soup didn’t taste quite the same as it did in the past this time… still good though.
Staff is quick even when it’s busy, and the announcements are clear! (more than you can say for some places.)
Like the rest of the food court, CASH ONLY.

Cash only, so either hit up the ATM in the Mitsuwa Marketplace grocery store, or remember before you get there.
Katsudon and Udon meals are excellent; my favorite dish, and what I’d recommend as a last meal if you’re wondering about that sort of thing. I generally spend around $ 8 on either of those, and the portions are generous; I usually can’t finish the whole thing in one sitting!
The drinks are overpriced; just go to the grocery store and buy something out of Mitsuwa before ordering (or while waiting for your food to cook, if you’re quick).

I came to this joint in Mitsuwa looking to try the Katsu Curry, and well I found it, and it was pretty good. It’s a generous serving of breaded pork cutlet topped with their curry sauce and served next to a large pile of rice. I was really into this dish, especially the great flavor of the curry and moist pork, but it was one-​noted, and that type of meal sometimes leaves me unsatisfied. I made up for it by having four other dishes to sample from as we ate in the food court, but had I not, this dish on it’s own wouldn’t have left me completely satisfied. Please though, don’t take this as a knock, I just need more variety when I eat. All in all, still a solid B+, just get something else to lighten it up…
Enjoy Suckas’!!!

I always get the tempura udon with the tempura on the side when I eat here. It’s made the same way every single time. I’ve also tried to tonkatsu and that’s very tasty as well. Also, the prices are right and far cheaper than paying for these dishes at restaurants.
In my opinion, the food here can compete with some lower scale restaurants that I’ve dined at before.
Overall, great place! Give it a try when you are here!
Also, remember to bring cash since it’s cash only! And, it can get pretty crowded at lunch time so either dine early or later to avoid waits for a table.

This place gets the award for consistency. Every time I go here the staff is always pleasant and efficient. Love the udon, katsu, and curry katsu. Like most places in the food court, cash only, so be prepared. I like being able to see the menu items on the wall photos, definitely makes it easier with kids in tow — just to have them point. Although the seating does get pretty crowded, folks are in and out so by the time food is ready, usually seats open up.
Portions are pretty good for the prices paid. Definitely never walked away hungry. Yum!