ひろたん♭
Well, I tried to go to this restaurant a while back but it was closed. I missed the opportunity and never went back, but today I happened to pass by and saw the curtain hanging at the entrance! The restaurant wasn't closed after all! So, I decided to go in since it was still before lunchtime. The atmosphere inside was calm, more like a Western-style restaurant than a tonkatsu place. The owner was chatting with a customer. I thought of sitting at the counter since I was alone, but they led me to a table. Well, there weren't any other customers, so it was okay. Looking at the menu, I noticed that they mainly had set meals. Tonkatsu set (regular or large), Hirekatsu set (regular or large), Ebi Fry set (regular or large), Butadon. The prices were all over 1000 yen... I was planning to have Katsudon, but they didn't have it... Cream Croquette set and lunch menu were around 800 yen. I noticed the Butadon for 1050 yen, but since it was my first time at a tonkatsu restaurant, I felt like I should order tonkatsu... even though it was a bit pricey for lunch. I ordered the Large Tonkatsu set for 1450 yen. They started preparing the meat after I placed my order. The Large Tonkatsu had a 200g meat portion. I wonder if the regular one is around 150g... While waiting, they served rice, miso soup, pickles, and a bottle of sauce. The miso soup had red miso with tofu and enoki mushrooms. The pickles were cucumber and shiba-zuke. The bottle had sauce and what seemed like soy sauce. Even though it was a set meal, there was no small side dish... I left it there for a while. Yeah, they are still frying the tonkatsu... Rice and all, aren't they a bit too early? I might end up eating the rice while listening to the frying sounds... After a while, the tonkatsu finally arrived. Yeah, it was indeed a generous portion with 200g of meat! The thickness of the meat was not consistent, but it was okay. The pork was a bit fatty loin with some chewiness. The seasoning like salt and pepper was a bit light... but the meat flavor didn't stand out either... huh? The breading was crispy... no, it was a "crunchy" type. Some parts, like the edges, had a high ratio of breading with a crunchy texture... isn't the breading a bit too hard...? The cabbage was plentiful, which was good, but since there were only pickles and miso soup besides the tonkatsu, I unintentionally ended up with a one-sided flow of tonkatsu → rice → cabbage → tonkatsu... It would have been nice to have a small side dish. Well, overall, it wasn't bad, but... for 1450 yen... lunch... I thought it would be okay if it was a three-digit price, but... I didn't feel the charm to come back again just because I wanted to eat tonkatsu... (-_-;) By the way, a customer who seemed to be a neighbor came in later and asked, "Do you have an order?" "No, I just came to have rice." Hey, what did you come here for without ordering anything... (-_-;)... I thought, but being in a residential area, it seems like a place for the locals to relax. I liked the homely atmosphere.