Tonkichi Pork Loin Katsu - A Worthy Competitor for Saboten? @ Takashimaya Shopping Centre [Singapore]

I often waxed lyrical about the epic, totally delicious pork loin katsu in Saboten and one of the many comments received after that was that i should give Tonkichi a try as well. 

Boasting four outlets, i am aware that Tonkichi has been around in Singapore for quite a number of years (longer than Saboten i think) and its continual presence does give one the impression that its food must be of a certain standard. 

With that in mind, the 吃喝玩乐 gang (comprising of colleagues, both current and former, from the arts and social science faculty) decided to give it a try after being superbly impressed by Saboten in our previous food outing. 

Nope, i didn't take up the jumbo katsu set! Instead, i opted for the Hire and Rosu Katsu set, which was essentially deep fried pork fillet and loin. 

Similar to Saboten, we were given our own armoury of sauces to play with and a bowl of sesame seeds to grind. The dressing for the freshly shredded cabbage was unfortunately too zesty for me and i could not help comparing it to the nicer sesame dressing available in Saboten. 

Now coming to the all-important meat. 

For the pork loin, i was denied the thick chunkiness signature of Saboten's pork loin and it was obvious the juiciness was simply not on the same level. I was in fact more thrilled with the hire (fillet) that was surprisingly tenderer than the pork loin. 

It also didn't help that the layer of pork fat was so thin! Hello, you need the fats to boost the "shiok factor"!!

Lastly, a few slices of sweet watermelon to conclude the meal. As with Saboten, the rice, miso soup and cabbage were refillable but service could be a bit slow; so do be patient! 

Wait, not yet! There was a birthday cake! 

For the three April babies of which ah hem, i am part of! Haha. I seriously didn't realise i have so many friends who were born in the month of April! Anyway, some introduction; the middle lady is Ms Boo while the left one is Ms Wee who has a blog at http://wkiahui.blogspot.sg/.

p.s. we were so noisy; the staff had to ask that we toned down our volume! 

=====

Location

391 Orchard Road Ngee Ann City, 

#04-24, Takashimaya Shopping Centre

Price

Hire and Rosu Katsu Set - S$26

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]