We were out on the prowl for dinner that could drown our meh bleh lunch at Sushi King and we almost (ALMOST!) ended up in Sukiya but there were just too many people in line. This girl's hot soup and steamboat cravings had to wait another day anddddddd... we ended up in Tonkatsu. A glance at Kampachi's menu almost left us fainting, another ramen shop next to Grandmama's left us a little skeptical cause it was new and Din Tai Fung's line left us running off again.
So, it was Tonkatsu. Fried pork.
Why have I been eating so much pork nowadays?!
It was however very. good. pork.
Tonkatsu is essentially a katsu restaurant serving chicken, prawns and pork. They also have a kimchi pork, katsu curry and katsu udons on their menu.
Their setting is minimalistic. Their serviettes don't even have their name on it. Very Muji.
They have 3 types of condiments - toasted sesame seeds, flavored oil and barbeque sauce.
The little mortar and pestle are for you to grind the sesame seeds with the oil as dipping sauce for the katsu. No pounding required, just stir it and you will hear the seeds grinding. The groves in the mortar makes the sauce making easy. The flavored oil is also used as dressing for the mountain of cabbage they serve you. Dear lady sitting next door, please be kind enough not to snigger when I ask the waiter what the condiments were for. Very rude. I believe in karma.
All dishes come with rice, miso soup and agedashi tofu.
The weird boyfie went with a kimchi pork stir fry. The dish arrived while he was in the washroom and the aroma of kimchi was very, very strong. Seems like good quality kimchi to me judging by the smell. *faints* He commented later on that it was a bit spicy and making him sweat.
I picked a pork cutlet and pork loin set. The rice was fluffy. The tofu I really loved because it was solid when I picked it up with my chopsticks. Not like those who splat upon impact.
The miso soup had plenty of carrots, pork, mushrooms, daikon and beef gelatin in them. I was quite surprised to see so many things in it. The soup was flavorful and mild. And it didn't seem like those cheap stuff where all the powder will sink to the bottom of the bowl. This was cloudy the whole time and didn't need stirring.
The star of the show, the katsu was marvelous! The meat was very tender and had no pork smell what so ever. Dipping it in the sesame-oil mixture produced a different flavor compared to when dipped into BBQ sauce and mustard. They were both good but I preferred the sesame-oil mixture. The toasted sesame gave out a lovely aroma and it was a good compliment to the katsu surprisingly.
I liked the pork loin compared to the pork cutlets. The pork cutlet had a small piece of fat attached to it and I ended up throwing away those bits. The pork loin also had a nicer texture compared to the pork cutlets.
The katsu rests on a metal platform to allow any oil to drip onto the plate leaving the meat crispy and not soggy. I doubt it's ever needed considering how fast it gets devoured.
The green tea served here leaves a strong lingering aftertaste. It had hints of roasted rice and was very thick even though it was iced. It's also refillable at RM4 a glass.
Lastly the cabbage. I have never seen cabbage sliced so fine before. It picked up every drop of the dressing with a few stirs. Light and refreshing after all that fried stuff. This is also refillable, surprising isn't it?
My katsu set was RM29 if I'm not wrong and it was very worth it. It's very good for big eaters as you can munch on cabbage and sip lotsa green tea to fill you up. Definitely recommended for good katsu.
More reviews here at Eat Drink KL and KY eats.