Chris V.
Yelp
I must have added a Ton to my bathroom scale after this meal.
Ton Ton Katsuya is the hotspot that has become the fried Japanese pork cutlet darling in town, especially after the tonkatsu spot on Jones closed (although, side note, it appears to have reopened in an Anthem location). Located in a small plaza between near the former location of Suzuya, this was not hard to find, and I've actually driven by quite a lot while embarrassingly ignoring it. I finally rectified that oversight today.
I showed up right at the start of dinner service, and lo and behold, the dining room was almost full already. I did get seated promptly though, and I ordered a slew of items which I'm surprised that I more or less handled.
Okinawa Milk Tea ($4.25) arrived first. Described as a black tea with brown sugar, it's not too sweet, akin perhaps to 50% sugar at some boba spots. I tried to keep my sips moderate, but I liked it so much that I ended up finishing it before I was done with my entree.
Next was my appetizer, the Yuzu Miso Fresh Toro Salmon ($9.50). It's probably shareable between two people, but why would I? The salmon pieces were all nicely marbled, and although they pre-dressed it with the yuzu miso, I preferred dipping my salmon in the bundled "extra" yuzu miso to add more of that sweet and umami goodness. The one slight issue was the presence of one pin bone, which I fortunately caught.
I was curious about the limited-time special, so I ordered it. The Kushikatsu ($9.50) skewer seems to be described as containing Berkshire Black Line Pork (aka Kurobuta), which would be the same protein as the entree, but - spoiler for the entree - it was much juicier and richer in this application. I also loved how the panko breading was crispy and free of grease and the onion portion pretty much dissolved in my mouth. The miso sauce added a nice sweet and savory component, and the huge mound of cabbage slaw was fresh and crisp and went well with the sesame sauce.
I enjoyed the Kurobuta set ($32.00), but it was more in the academic sense of how it was such a thick cut of pork yet remained so tender. It had the crispy panko breading, and the interior wasn't dry, but I was missing that juicy burst which I had in the kushikatsu. Also, there was an unrendered fat portion on one end which was less than fully pleasant.
I did enjoy playing around with the accompaniments as advised on that one list of instructions (which was actually not facing me on my table, but which I found while researching on Yelp). The pork was enjoyable both on its own an in combination with various permutations of Katsu sauce with ground sesame (which you're asked to grind yourself with wooden bowl and pestle), pink salt, wasabi salt, sesame dressing, lemon wedge, and the lightly pickled cucumbers. The miso soup was good too, but the rice was a bit wet for my liking.
Meta side-note: I inadvertently cheated the algorithm earlier (any guess how?) to get a checkmark for ambiance, so let me make up for it now. I did appreciate that the music volume was on the quiet side, and the songs were coffeehouse-esque covers of Western pop music w/ female-sounding vocals. The seating for me was a little awkward because the divider between me and a group of two only extended the length of the table, but I made do.
I'm calling Ton Ton Katsuya a 4.5 since I'd personally shy away from reordering the Berkshire katsu and I would actually have to try a different protein entree to be certain that it's delicious. That said, I would definitely recommend it to all carnivores and anyone craving a hearty yet not heavy breaded pork. Don't be surprised if there's a wait, but it'll be worth it.