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2011-05-24
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Keeping away from all the lovely fatty foods for a while, I was quite elated to dine at Tonkitsu tonight. I had ordered as much as I want to fill my long awaited stomach, SCREW THE FAT!!!There wasn't as much people waiting to dine in as it was years ago, I guess its because we now have more as fascinating options around. Still we had to wait for about 15 minutes for our table, but later I found out there was actually a few available seats in the restaurant. I hope they are not trying to create a
There wasn't as much people waiting to dine in as it was years ago, I guess its because we now have more as fascinating options around. Still we had to wait for about 15 minutes for our table, but later I found out there was actually a few available seats in the restaurant. I hope they are not trying to create an illusion of popularity here.
1) Kimchi Tofu
It's not the first time I had this and it's also not the first time I wondered why a Japanese restaurant would offer Kimchi dish. Kimchi and tofu doesn't seem fusion to me. Anyhow, the kimchi was good. The combination of spiciness, sourness and sweetness were almost perfect, just if the spiciness could tune up a bit. The tofu was on the other hand quite disappointing, the texture was rather rough.2) The Condiment
I personally reckon the sesame grinding experience was fun and should add points to all Tonkatsu restaurants that provide this experience. The sesame seeds in Tonkichi smell amazing. On the grinding pot, there was two different utensils - one for you to grind the sesame, the other for you to mix the Tonkatsu sauce in. The Tonkatsu sauce was very thick which needed to add in quite a lot to mixed them together fully. I like to have the sesame seeds coarsely grinded.In the condiment set, there was also two salad dressings - Pomelo or Sesame dressing for the shredded lettuce. The salad dressing was not as nicely done as before - the Pomelo dressing wasn't as freshly tasted, the sesame dressing sauce didn't possess much sesame taste. To be honest, I could not really tell the difference between the two dressing, despite the Pomelo dressing was a bit more sour than the sesame dressing. May be the recipe has changed.
3) The Twin Tonkatsu set
Despite the Twin Tonkatsu set, I also ordered the Crabstick Cream Croquette and the Fried Prawn. I was quite surprised they were all served on the same plate at the same time. I was worried about the food temperature for a while but found everything was kept hot/warm. So its good.
For the twin set, there were Pork Loin and Pork Cutlet, both possessed the perfect golden brown look. I am more fond of the loin, it was much more tender and juicer than the pork cutlet. The pork cutlet was more lean though. Both of the breading was very well done, it was extremely crispy but NOT oily at all - which was impressive. The bread crusting was really light in texture too.4) Crabstick Cream Croquette
The cream filling within the croquette was made extremely fresh and hot. The cream paste was quiet thick in texture and tasted very similar to a thickened cream chowder soup but replaced by a mild crab taste. However, the cream paste couldn't totally fill the croquette which left some hollow space at side. Although the croquette ingredients were fresh, I don't like it much. I don't particularly like its texture as the cream croquette I usually get in Japan's restaurants are more solid-creamy not liquid-creamy ones.5) Fried Prawn
The prawn size was unexpectedly huge(in length) but was rather thin in diameter. The breading was again crispy but not oily, yet it could not withhold the juiciness of the prawn within the crust. The fried prawn was pretty dull in general, but was better than any prawn tempura due to its nicely done bread crusting.6) Rice and shredded cabbage
Despite the katsu we had, Tonkichi also provides unlimited shredded lettuce and rice to their customers. The shredded lettuce was cold and slightly moist when served which was nice. The size of the lettuce was shredded quite uniformly, I wonder if its done by machine. The rice on the other hand was too soggy, each rice particle literally stick together. I actually prefer they charge the rice but provide better quality.
7) Dessert
For dessert, we had a plate of watermelon each from the set. The watermelon was pretty sweet (soaked in sweet water? Hmmmm, suspicious.) I was craving for other desserts but found there weren't much choice on the menu - only four of them and they are mostly ice-cream that didn't interest me. I didn't take any in the end.8) Braised Pork with Miso Soup
Nearly forgot this good bowl of miso soup. I added approx. $15 in additional to change the traditional miso soup into this braised pork miso soup. The soup literally tasted pretty much the same with miso soup but thicker and with a slight pork taste.Overall, I do love dinning in this restaurant as the Tonkatsu was the best among all the Tonkatsu restaurants that I have tried in HK. My 2 people dinner costs $500 but we ordered crazily much. I would say it was quite pricey, but the quality does worth it (except the rice which I was disappointed this time.)
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