Brown Donkatsu - Dundas

Had to leave a review because I just had the biggest katsu in my life! The exterior and interior looked kinda average, but we were welcomed by a friendly service. The menu was simple yet they served one of the best katsu that I've tried. It's a korean katsu (unique crust, topped with sauce) served with corn, rice, and salad as sides. It was a pleasant experience! I was hoping there were more options for the beverages though!

🍤 Fried shrimp: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ great batter. i wish the shrimp was a bit bigger but still good. 🍖 Brown katsu: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the katsu texture is really good and the portions was insane. i would order the sauce on the side for next time since the sauce was a bit too much when everything. 🍖 Tteokkochi set: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the addition of the rice cakes was good. nothing mindblowing but solid addition.

First time trying Katsu and had a wonderful experience. They had plenty of vegetarian options to accommodate for a variety of diets. They even let us know their brown katsu had beef stock without us asking, and offered us replacement gravies. The staff was incredibly welcoming for a first-time visit and I loved trying this new dish. The portion size was plentiful, more than one person could finish! Fairly priced considering 1 plate could feed 2 people. I will definitely visit again to fulfill my katsu cravings!

I went there a month ago. It was my first time trying Korean food. The katsu was huge and absolutely delicious. I would definitely come back if I still lived in Toronto. Highly recommended!

If you've never tried Donkatsu, I highly recommend this cute restaurant. Amazing staff, fast service and the food was absolutely delicious. Come hungry because the portions are huge, wonderfully crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside, perfectly prepared. Oh and their beer are served in a frozen glass mug, perfect for those hot days.

We both ordered the teri tonkatsu and it came out perfectly the pork was thick and juicy, with a super crispy coating that stayed crunchy the whole time. The teriyaki sauce was rich and slightly sweet, soaking into the cutlet and rice in the best way. Everything felt really well balanced and filling without being too heavy. It’s the kind of simple, comforting meal that’s done really well.

Service and food were both great. The portions are really big, I split the brown katsu with a friend and could still barely finish it. The takoyaki was pretty decent too. Great prices for how much food you get.

Went yesterday but was almost full but we were told it would be too tight to sit us down hahaha... So we came back today. The food is fantastic. Here are a few pics:

For my money, there are few things better than crispy fried meat, gravy, and rice, so I'm pretty much guaranteed to love a place like Brown Donkatsu. We showed up shortly after they opened on a recent Saturday and the place was already about half full. A quick perusal of the menu led me to the Brown Katsu ("Served with Original Brown Katsu Sauce") and I got that at the second spice level. It's an absolutely enormous portion. It's a big plate that comes with two full-sized helpings of fried pork, along with rice, corn, and coleslaw. I actually was only able to eat one of the portions, which worked out fine because I took the other one home and ate it the next day. Anyway, it's delicious. It arrived to the table piping hot and super crispy, and the meat was nice and tender. The gravy was perhaps a little on the sweet side, but it was counterbalanced with just the right amount of spice. The accompaniments were quite good as well, but really, the pork is the main attraction here. It's phenomenal. I'll definitely be returning.

BROWN DONKATSU . . We finally tried Brown Donkatsu the other and was not disappointed at all! The katsu was crispy and the breading did not feel heavy at all. Most of the katsu dishes come with cabbage, corn and rice which I absolutely loved. The portions are huge so definitely keep that in mind. Highly recommend the cheese stick katsu! . . Cheese Stick Katsu 4.6/5 Brown Katsu (Pork) 4.5/5

It was lunchtime so I got the combo meal with chicken, fish & shrimp. Panko coating was overboard. And brown sauce was mediocre and meal was lukewarm which was disappointing. There are many katsu places in the downtown core. I wish this was better. Looks better than it tasted. Lunch was $30 without drink.

ADDING THIS TO MY GO TO!!! No better place to find affordable good protein. Service was 10/10 too!

My favourite Katsu in the city. A chain, but that doesn't take away from how good it is. They have large panko crumbs which add an incredible texture. The meat is all cooked very well, as are the sides. The servings are very generous, and you probably will have leftovers. Nice ambiance, but nothing special.

One of my go-to spots for the yummiest katsu! They've got huge portions - for me, good enough for two meals. Here's what we ordered: * Tonkatsu: Everything set B $27.99 - 8/10 * Donburi: Chashudon $16.99 - 7/10 There's not too much seating inside, I'd recommend for groups 2-4 people. But our servers were super friendly and quick to seat us. It's close to TMU/Dundas Square.

Chose this based on location and Yelp review. Went there for lunch and chose the brown pork katsu spicy 1 and wife chose a Chaisu with rice. The brown sauce tasted a mix of ketchup with a hint of spice. Should have went spicier (2 or 3) but still good. Portions were huge and I can only eat one pork katsu and took home the rest. The rice portion was very small relative to the meat portion. Corn was ok, room temp and nothing special. The cabbage side had thousand island dressing on it. Price is high but expected in Korean restaurants. Service was great. I gave 4 stars just because it was very breaded and the pork was very thin. I enjoyed my meal and would eat here in the future but maybe try the curry sauce spicy. Lots of college students eat here and often share a plate since portions is huge.

I came here for dinner and shared the original donkatsu with my partner. The portions here are HUGE so we were both pretty satisfied at the end. The katsu was nice and crispy. Although, they never seem to give enough rice is proportion to the katsu. That might just be a personal issue though. The corn cheese was also quite delicious! I would definitely recommend this place if you want to feel stuffed. The place was fairly busy when we came but we were seated right away and the service was fast. I could definitely see myself going again if I'm in the area.

Who knew chicken could be so crispy? We ordered the chicken and shrimp katsu combo. Was delicious! The brown sauce was amazing and the ice sauce on the cabbage was even better so that we had to ask for a dish of it to dip out katsu in. Service was friendly and fast. Cute little place.

This was great. So value. It's 2 meals for me- brought half home. Geez. One thing I wish for is cabbage, not daikon. Other than that, it's perfect.

I came to here to satisfy my katsu craving and boy did it satisfy! I had a pleasant visit to Brown Donkatsu to try their crispy Asian katsu curry rice. I'd been curious to try their uniquely crunchy pork cutlet for a while now. It did not disappoint. Interestingly they hail from Seoul, Korea with their first shop there in 1986. They have a nice spicy kick as a result with varying spice levels. It's well balanced with corn salad & coleslaw. While the price point is slightly higher than a similar nearby option, the katsu here and house brown sauce meld nicely for a tasty lunch. Will consider trying their cheese katsu next time.

Love Brown Donkatsu!! You get such huge portions, you could easily split one dish depending as you get two large katsus plus rice and cabbage salad. Always super crispy, and surprisingly light considering it's deep fried. The restaurant and service is pretty no frills, kind of an in-and-out type of place as decently busy and the space is small. There's usually a small line but I've never waited more than 10 minutes

Very happy that the Markham location branched out to a location in the downtown core. I have been here on 3 separate occasions already and all I would say is that everything is fairly consistent, even with the Markham location experience as well. Service is nice and the food is AMAZING! They give such big portions it takes effort to finish a portion by yourself. I enjoy the way it comes out battered, a little different than at Katsuya as it adds a really nice crunch. Excellent place for donkatsu cravings!!

My friend and I shared a cheese bomb Katsu, it was one of the best I've ever had. Perfectly crispy, amazing cheese pull, well seasoned, yummy sauce, huge portion which was enough for two. It came with rice and salad! The servers were so nice too, refilled our water over 5 times, answered our questions too. The restaurant interior is pretty minimal, not much decor. Prices are good considering the size of the food!

Delicious. And the value is OUT OF THIS WORLD. You get TWO giant katsu! First time here and I got the set with the tteokbokki and changed the sauce to carbonara and it's A++. The thickness of the katsu is perfect and the breading is light, albeit a bit too thickly layered but I won't fault them for that. Close to a perfect katsu. Will definitely come back!

the quality is so delicious here! i got the cream sauce and pork donkatsu. they give you a good quantity of meat with a great crispy bread coating , and it is very juicy. I really like the brown sauce too. I definitely recommend!

Are you absolutely starving? Then come here because the portions are MASSIVE. I got the curry donkatsu which came with two huge pork cutlets, fried till its extremely crispy, but still moist. The curry was quite tasty and not overly salty. It comes with a nice little side of cabbage, corn, and rice. I wish the rice portion was bigger, as it mops up the curry sauce so well.

Food was excellent. Got the spicy curry which had a nice, but not overpowering curry taste. We also got the shrimp katsudon. Both were very good. The price I had thought was high but after it came, I understood why - very big portion. Service was very attentive and quick to fill our water back up. Very informal environment so very relaxed. Looks like a bunch of college students were around us. Would eat there again!

Yummmmmm. Big portions and affordable prices! It's really good here and I'm glad we have this downtown

I have been craving for real donkatsu for so long! We visited Toronto for my friends' wedding and we found this place. The donkatsu sauce + bread crumbs (panko) + side dishes were perfectly harmonized and reminded me of what I used to had in Korea !! I wish we had this restaurant or branches in Boston! Thanks for serving what we have been craving for! It was like an hour trip to Korea for us! The portion was super big and little bit of spice was great with donkatsu. I actually could go little bit more brave to have even more spicier sauce that would be even better either cheese donkatsu! - I regret to forget taking photos of cheese inside which was epic but I was so into eating

This place was busy, so we expected it to be good! The portion sizes are generous, but at $20+ per plate it's expected. The service was also great; food was ready for takeout very quickly despite having many customers place their order at the same time. The food itself was delicious! The pork katsu is crispy and a good thickness. We ordered the lowest level of spice for the curry sauce but it still packed a lot of heat. The donbury has an egg, scallions, pickled ginger and sesame on top that make the rice very flavourful. Would definitely consider returning! Although, perhaps I would share a portion next time (or just bring home half for another meal ;))

This was a very different experience. Even though we went for the spicy one, it turned out to be on the sweeter side. Service was very quick. The cabbage at the bottom was really amazing. At first, it felt odd to mix this cheesy saucy chicken with rice but then it felt good. My husband ended up getting a little sick right after. Wonder if the chicken was a little raw and that's what got him a little sick. Nice little spot, we sat next to the door. So we were a little cold.

There's a whole lot of brown on here! Between the huge portion sizes, the friedness of everything, and that delicious sauce, Brown definitely lives up to its name. Passed by for lunch and we got: - Shrimp and Pork Combo: A ridiculous amount of food (2 huge pieces of pork, 3 pieces of shrimp) which might have been too much of a good thing because you end up being overwhelmed by the fried coating and lose the taste of the meat. - Cheese Bomb Katsu: Now this was the bomb! They were super (and I mean ridiculously super) generous with the melted mozzarella cheese in this. Highly recommend! Service was quick and friendly. Space is well ventilated so you don't leave smelling of fried food. Given the portion sizes, prices were reasonable. Overall, a good stop if you're in the mood for downtown donkatsu.

For the longest time I've been wanting to try Brown's Donkatsu after seeing so many reviews and finally visited while I was in the Downtown area. I got a takeout order so I can't fully comment on the full experience but the Downtown place has a reasonable sitting amount of space and a more casual restaurant vibe. Everything Set B ($26.95): This set comes with chicken katsu, fish katsu and shrimp katsu. The portions are bigger so you may need to share or have lots of leftovers after! The exterior was really crispy however, I found the sauce was a bit ordinary. The major downside I found the portions of the rice and salad really small especially for what you pay. Overall, it was an alright experience. It wasn't bad but wasn't extraordinary to revisit again. The service was pretty quick and convenient location in Downtown.

Went to their other location so I was happy they opened one downtown! We shared the spicy original tteokbokki and everything set b (fried shrimp, fish, and chicken cutlets served with og brown donkatsu sauce & tartar sauce). The rice cakes were on the spicier side (I believe we just got the regular? spicy). The set was amazing- I love how fresh they fry their tempura and the sauces on the side elevated it further. Amazing customer service and super clean. Would definitely return!

Finally tried this newly openrd Korean cutlets place where a lot of Koreans in North York raved about. Ordered Everything Set A ( shrimp, fish & pork) with spicy level 3(it was very much tolerable) for a take out. It came with 3 big pieces of shrimp, 1 fish and 5-6 big pieces of pork. Their breading from fresh bread makes their katsu really stands out. I had a very memorable cruchy ASMR moment. All three protein( pork, fish and shrimp) quality was excellent as well. Rice portion size seem a little skimpy even though, there is no way I could finish the whole Set A dish in one sitting. Thier rice serving size might offend some Asian community when this newly opened location is very close to China Town. If you order extra rice, there is a charge of $3. At the same time very generous amount of pseudo-demi-glace sauce( gravy) was provided, I could use leftover sauce for fried dumpling dipping sauce or something. I would definately order more cabbage salad( maybe three times more) next time cause I love eating a lot of raw cabbage salad with my katsu. Also it would be nice if they have small size clear soup on the menu to with katsu. I only see the option of cream soup($6.99) or big oden soup($16.99). Unfortunately they don't have their famous jjamppong in this location. Owner confirmed that they don't have plan to have jjamppong in this location in the near future.

Can't go wrong with Chicken Katsu at Brown DonKatsu We got the Combo Katsu, which is a half & half sauce of their classic spicy brown sauce & carbonara cream sauce! I'd have to say this is a great value for your money, it comes with 2 HUGE pork cutlets and with 2 sauces, rice, corn & salad for only $20.95?? A STEAL I also had Corn Cheese, cause if you know me I'm a huge slut for corn it's topped with cheddar and mozzarella for that iconic cheese pull, if you're a cheese love you're gonna love this. Personally I like my corn buttered but this is still pretty good! The Dundas location is kinda packed now, no such thing as a wait list there so you either show up and get lucky if you find a table or you can just leave cause tbh the waiters couldn't be bothered. Hence service was kinda meh to me for my 1st visit. For my 2nd attempt, I visited the place after peak lunch hour on a weekend & got a table! Food: 9/10 Service: 7/10 Ambiance: 8/10

I came here for lunch and tried to combo katsu with pork. You can choose the spice level for the sauce and it comes with a soup, rice, cabbage and corn. The portions are MASSIVE and freshly made so there's a bit of a wait for the food to come out. I didn't realize that my katsu order comes with TWO big ass pieces of katsu! it could easily feed 2 people. The combo katsu comes with their original katsu sauce and carbonara sauce. I prefer the original katsu sauce as the carbonara one was a bit gloopy and one dimensional. the katsu was fried super crispy, but i personally prefer if it was a bit thicker and less wide in surface area. Service is friendly and the space is clean.

Visited this place during grand opening. It replaced kenzo, so the layout is quite familiar with the stairs going up to the back. During grand opening, they were only open for take-out, but they had free barley tea available which was quite nice especially since it was already starting to get cold outside. Always a sucker for free tea. Ordered the "everything combo" which is pork or chicken cutlet with extra fried shrimp and fish on top. The amount of food you get is indeed quite a bit. I ate half and then finished the rest for lunch next day. Two meals in one, what a deal. They offer 3 levels of spice with their sauce, and I went with 2. It's got nice flavour, and the spice kicks in just right. I recently found out I can't handle super spicy food during a katsuya food challenge, but this was very good. Haven't had an opportunity to dine in yet so not sure what the service will be like, but as far as food goes, I can say it's pretty good.

Wow this was... delicious. My husband has been eyeing this for a while and we finally had the chance to try it yesterday! When we first walked in, we noticed that their portions were BIG. (No complaints here!) it wasn't too busy on our Wednesday lunch and service was good. I ordered the Teri Katsu and he got the Brown Katsu and they were both yums! I got the 0.5 spicy and he got the 1 but it seemed like mine was spicier? Either way, both delicious. I was surprised to learn (on their walls) that they actually break their own breads to make their breadcrumbs. They use 19 ingredients to make their sauce which is simmered for 6 hrs!! The hardwork and timely preparation was evident and appreciated. I highly recommend and we'll be back!

Came here for the grand opening one night. I ordered the original pork donkatsu. The portion was huge. I got the non-spicy version. You can choose your spice level. The pork cutlet was cooked just right and was juicy. The sauce was sweet. Great value for the amount of food.

Really delicious gravy with a tomatoey flavour! Love the cheese on the corn! And the pork is my favourite. Breading is great!

You can't go wrong with katsu especially katsu curry on a cold evening. We walked into Brown Donkatsu and they had so many options for katsu. You can choose from different topping options to different combos. The servings are really generous and we ended up ordering too much. Overall it was good traditional katsu with a Korean touch. The restaurant itself isn't too spacious, but they were able to accommodate our party of 10 with no problem.

I walk by this neighbourhood often and noticed the brand spanking new signage. Made a mental note to try it one day but knew deep down inside I'm a loyal customer of Katsuya and it would take a lot to sway me. A friend was visiting from out of town and wanted deep fried food. Cue Brown Donkatsu. We looked at the menu and my first thought was that it's more expensive than Katsuya. We decided to try it anyway. Was promptly seated in the stall next to the washrooms (not my first choice of seating but whatevs). We both ordered our own dish and boy was I surprised when it was served. It's basically two giant pieces of donkatsu. Mind you, the cutlet is thinner than other places but it's still a good value when you can essentially make 2 meals out of it. It was deep fried goodness and the employees were prompt and friendly. Honestly pleasantly surprised and will be back to try the other types of donkatsu soon. Strong 4.5 stars.

The katsu here is so good! Portions are huge and service is quick! Pretty casual place with great katsu variety. Loved the cheese one and was surprised by how large the half-half one was since you basically get 2 katsus. Will be back soon!

First time trying the Korean katsu. For appetizer we ordered the gyoza and takoyaki. Good, nothing special. For entree we ordered one of the sets with chicken, fish and shrimp katsu. Amazing! The best katsu I've ever had! Very crunchy and delicious! The portion was huge! Yes it was CAD 27 but it's basically portion for 2 or 3 people! The restaurant was not big but nice, clean and the service was friendly and fast. Very recommended!

In a classic Me move, I went out of my way to pick the oddest item on the menu, which was the carbonara tonkatsu. (It was good! I don't know if I'd have it again though, it was pretty heavy.) The major feeling is astonishment, at how much food you get for a really reasonable price. One serving was more than enough for a second meal the next day.

Food: 4.5 Stars Service: 4 Stars Ambience: 4 Stars Fill Factor: Stuffed Me coming here was a complete coincidence as I did not even know this place existed. I just so happened to pass by with some friends looking for food and randomly decided to go in. The short version is that I thought the food was pretty good and the portions are massive so this is the perfect place if you're starving. Not knowing a thing and this restaurant I decided to go with the combo katsu as that allowed me to taste both the brown katsu and the cream sauce (nothing dirty here). The first thing that went through my mind when the server brought our food was holy crap the portions are huge. You don't just get one piece of katsu and each piece is a bit larger than I had anticipated. Many tables around me (including folks at my own) had to ask for a takeout box as they couldn't finish their meal. In terms of taste the katsu was nice and juicy with a crisp exterior. I enjoyed the piece with the cream sauce less as I found it to be a bit heavy. The brown katsu sauce was absolutely delicious though and I recommend going with this if you are unsure what to order. Service was good as the servers were friendly and responsive when we needed something. The restaurant itself was bright and clean with ample seating and space so it didn't feel cramped. I enjoyed my meal here and will definitely look to come back for more katsu. This is a recommend from me so go go go.

I got the Brown Katsu - Pork ($18.95) which I assume is their signature dish and the Carbonara Ttekbokki ($19.99) for takeout. The breading on the katsu was perfectly crispy and not too light nor too heavy and the actual meat itself was juicy. The meal comes with some corn, cabbage + dressing, and rice. The rice portion is quite small, but the meat portion is very generous! For the sauce, I got a spicy level 1, which was just right for me. I would compare this spice level to maybe half as spicy as Siracha - was definitely very manageable and not too spicy. The Carbonara Ttekbokki was tasty too - although I'm guessing not too authentic, so probably not for everyone. It has broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and red bell peppers in it. It was not spicy at all. I'd recommend getting the katsu instead of the ttekbokki. I went on a Friday night to pick up my order, and it was full inside. There's seating for around 20 people. Overall, the katsu is delicious and the portions are quite generous.

Large portion, good value and great taste! The brown donkatsu (forgot actual name) came with two large pieces of pork cutlet and a small portion of rice. The katsudon is surprisingly delicious. Love the flavour of the sauce, and the combination of all the ingredients is a delicious bite. Good service - pls be patient as they can get very busy during dinner hour and don't have many staff. Casual ambiance, decently clean.

Came tired and hungry and left very satisfied and full. We ordered the Curry Katsu, Hamburg Steak, Rose Tteokbokki, and Chicken Katsudon. All were amazing!! We were blown away by the flavor, texture, and tenderness of the food and sauces. Easily the best meal we had in Toronto and on my top lists for donkatsu anywhere. The service was on point as they met all of our needs promptly and with a smile. The music playing in the background provided a great atmosphere.

I really enjoy coming here because their cutlets are fried to perfections nice, light and very crispy yet the meat is still juicy and tender. This is definitely one of my favourite Don katsu place and I highly recommend. Service is friendly, efficient and quick. Ambiance is relaxed and during dinner time, it can get quick busy and packed so go either for an early dinner or right after dinner time. I highly recommend! :)

Walked into this random katsu place and it did not disappoint! The food portions were huge and the prices were not bad, definitely recommend sharing with someone. The katsu was very crispy and tender and flavourful. I got the carbonara curry sauce and it was very sweet, savoury and delicious. The restaurant itself was very small but managed to seat us right away. The service was very good, very quick to attend and food came pretty fast for how much we ordered. I definitely recommend this place!

Best katsu I have had and I live in Seattle where there is dominant Asian population. Clearly there is more love in this food and the sauces were amazing!!!

If you like deep fried meat cutlets with an asian twist than this is a place you have to check out. They got pork, chicken, fish, shrimp and cheese all deep fried coasted with their light crispy bread crumps and accompanied by their homemade flavourful sauces. I have had lots of fried food in the past and the batter they used here stood out from all the other places I have been to. The everything meal is a massive meal and is good enough for two people. Its got shrimp, fish, chicken or pork with a side dish of rice, cabbage and corn. Everything in this meal was very enjoyable. Prices are on the higher side but the food is so tasty and portions are so massive its well worth it. I was also able to their thei cheese and pork cutlet. Its also a great experience. The cheese is very stringy so if you plan on doing a cheese pull you may run out of space on how far you can pull it. The staff here were very friendly and were helpful during the ordering process.

2.5* The katsu dishes were just meh. Maybe it was just an off day or something, but I ordered the Fish and Shrimp set and found it to be barely edible. Their portions are huge. Although more expensive, they're much bigger than Katsuya and at a glance, Brown Donkatsu may seem appealing and worth your buck but in my experience, it wasn't. I barely managed to finish half of my katsu. The amount of oil soaked into the batter made it really difficult to eat. I had to peel off most of the batter just to get to the meat. This was on a Sunday afternoon and it was "fresh". My bf's chicken katsu wasn't too shabby; it was moist and didn't just taste like oil. If you had to eat here, I'd say that's the safest choice. If you're feeling seafood, I highly recommend you go elsewhere. Most of the fish pieces had more batter than fish and the shrimp wasn't much better. I've had less greasy fish in fish and chips and more shrimp in shrimp tempura at all-you-can-eat sushi places. The original sauce was OK, but the spice levels were really mild. If you're looking for something spicy, you're going to have to go for level 2 and up. If you're looking for a quick service spot downtown and you're craving fried food, this might be an okay stop. Just be sure to skip the seafood and go for the chicken. Hopefully, my experience was just a one-off, but I can't recommend the fish or shrimp katsu at this location.

So so good. Do me a favor and try the cheesbomb. Service was great. Food was deliscious. Everything we ordered was deliscious. Takoyaki and cheese corn were yummm.

Huge portions and so delicious! Only down side is waiting for the food to be ready. We waited about 30 mins so if you're short on time I would be prepare or ask beforehand. We ate half and still had leftovers. It's crispy and the slaw is perfection.

Favourite katsu place, can't let this place close -- brown sauce is a must get and seafood is also bomb