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2009-12-21
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Although I ate first at the new 梅林 restaurant at K11, in reality, I knew about 浪漫館橫浜 before that: the reason for giving the other shop my priority was mainly to do with the other shop's reputation in Ginza, as well as their deco being old-fashioned Japanese. That's despite both shops being imported from Japan - and both shops have a residing Japanese Head-chef cooking Katsu's for you! Upon first setting my eyes on 浪漫館 - I didn't find its settings and deco appealing, plus its quite Western
Upon first setting my eyes on 浪漫館 - I didn't find its settings and deco appealing, plus its quite Westernised in a way. But then it got me thinking - even in Japan, most people agree that TONKATSU and other fried foods aren't traditionally Japanese anyway, but its a fusioned food idea that was initially borrowed from Western Countries. That's why KATSU (カツ) is actually English/French and not Japanese - so bearing this in mind, and rethinking about where I have just visited, which shop do you now think is more AUTHENTIC TO THE DISHES?
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FILLET KATSU + FRIED PRAWN SET -
This comes with refillable Cabbage and Rice. Both are done pretty well. The Yuzu Dressing for the cabbage salad was ok but a bit boring, even compared to the Bairin versions, but at least the Katsu Sauce here tasted like Katsu sauce, thickly viscous, with the worchestire sauce and fruity influence intact, also thick and came with aromatic self-grinded sesame!
Comparing a Fillet to a Loin I had at other places isn't very fair, so I'm looking at it separately until I try the Loin version here too 1 day. My Fillet (Hire) Katsu here was done really well indeed, and retained the juiciness inside so when you bite on it, it was moist in your mouth! The Ebi-Fry (Prawn) was great, better than the version called a Ebi-Katsu in 梅林 (you see, 梅林 really does treat 'katsu' as a Japanese dish, coining it as a reference of cooking-method, rather than its original meaning of a 'Cutlet', which wouldn't be entirely technically correct when referring to an unflattened Prawn! )
The Prawn was cooked to the perfect degree, also had some prawn taste. One was bigger than the other however! The batter coating was perfect but somehow it reminded me of the version you get at Cafe's rather than the really Japanese Katsu outlets. It was more Golden, despite the same pointy home-made bread crumbs - it had more of an eggy & floury coating inside! The 梅林's version doesn't really have this additional coating inside, the panko crumbs being pressed straight onto the meat and seafood's very thin flour coating. EACH TO THEIR OWN!
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The Supporting Stuff here varies. The Miso Soup isn't as interesting as the Tonjiru version at other places, but it suits just fine sometimes - as one might not want too much pork during a meal? Again, each to their own. The Tartare sauce here is more commercialised in taste, but at least you can taste the pickles inside. The salad dressing could do with a slight tweak of its formula. Japanese pickles were ok-good. The end Lemon Tea drink is more aligned with the Japanese lighter versions - so please don't complain that the tea isn't strong enough, or the lemon slices are a bit weak, its how its meant to be done!
OVERALL - I think places like 梅林 and Tonkichi have a more traditional Japanese Feel to the food, they also seemed 'higher-end' somewhat, at least trying hard to be. My personal opinion is, the way 浪漫館橫浜 has set up this shop won't attract the customers in hordes as the other place, afterall, our minds are naturally set-up to believe that KATSU and KATSU-SANDWICHES are a very Japanese thing. But as I've already tried to explain to you, the whole Yokohama's slightly Westernised fusion Scheme, is probably more truer to the original dish than ours minds might give it credit for. Besides - I actually found the food standards here to be slightly better for now & in the '5' category, but let's give it '4' just for now.... and I told the Japanese chef so and he seemed pretty happy and was keen to improve even further! Ultimately however, the other new place is aimed at a different market somehow. I like them both.
張貼
