Trivia: Tonkichi means 'lucky pig' although I wonder what's so lucky about a pig that gets savagely murdered and devoured.
First up, my sliced pork with rice set. I really liked this one. It tasted like teppanyaki, especially with the fried beansprouts and all. The pork was very well-done and the seasoning was flawless. It was so flavourful and so full-bodied.
There was a lot of that wondrous savoury gravy, enough gravy to envelop each grain of rice entirely. The rice, however, was a little soggy. Also, I got a bit bored of the taste after a while. It was spectacular at first bite, but I soon grew weary of it. That did not stop me from polishing off the entire set though.
This is what we came for, the hire katsu-don. I do not think it is better than tampopo. Not at all. The katsu-don at tampopo is so good, the egg is so well-done, it is as if it melts into the rice, amalgamating into perfect unity and symbiosis. The rice is infused with the katsudon sauce. That is the perfect katsu-don man.
One thing for sure though, their katsu kicks ass. This is one of the best katsu I have had. It is so crispy and yet so light. It doesn't taste cloying or oily at all. It is the elite of elite of katsu. When you bite into it, the bread crumbs literally sputter and crackle. You can feel the breadcrumbs giving way helplessly to the pressure of your teeth and then sprinkling mercilessly into your mouth. I am not kidding.
What amazes me is how NOT oily it tastes. The meat is so lean and yet so tender. Look at how lean it is! It looks a bit dry, I know, but trust me, it is very very good.
The texture is unbelievable. It is so crispy but not the least bit cloying, not at all. A superb katsu. It also helped that they were crazy-generous with the amount of meat they gave. Sharon almost couldn't finish it.
The next time I'm here, I will definitely have the katsu.
Tonkichi
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