Wow! This place is fantastic. If you love Japanese food you need to go here. If you have not tried Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) you NEED to and go here.Reminds me of excellent tonkatsu I’ve had in Tokyo. Beautiful presentation, perfectly cooked, and incredibly delicious. I got the basic katsu (Iberico) and my wife got the katsu-nabe (Kurobuta). Both were excellent but hers took the cake. I can’t wait to go back and try all the variations. Especially the curry.Parking: Limited parking but neighborhood parking nearbyKid-friendliness: Saw several families.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu
Chris Han
Best katsu don/bowl in the eastside.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mozzarella Katsu
Jeff Szczerbinski
A little katsu to warm your heart
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alena Phommahaxay
Best katsu I’ve ever had! So crispy, juicy and flavorful! Went with a group so I was able to try more dishes. You can’t go wrong with any choice. Can’t wait to come back and try some more!
Everything is really good! Food is yummy, service is best. One of my favorite restaurant!
Casmira Boland
This place has been crowded every time I've gone, and I know why! The food is excellent. The different styles of katsu they are offering are all so unique. I want to try everything on the menu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oroshi Katsu with Iberico
Cameron Weller
Yummy! Kinda spendy but great vibes and service. Really unique authentic high quality food.
Lucas Gerbeaux
Outside of Japan you’ll be hard pressed to find a Katsu Curry this good. The line gets long on Sundays and the parking lot is ridiculously tiny. But 100% worth whatever wait or logistical hurdles you may face!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oroshi Katsu with Iberico
Sara Baquero-Garcia
It was overall a good experience. I had the chicken with ume and shizo inside and it was delicious! The menu was confusing, so I ended up ordering the chicken katsu with the curry. They were both good, not sure they were the best together, that's my fault. The food was super pricey though, so don't go there unless you have 50 bucks to spend on your meal!! Tasty but will not go there often,really pricey.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Patrick Au-Yeung
Woohoo, finally a legit Japanese restaurant with real food like you’d get in Japan. Their katsu is amazing. We had the seafood box and the classic Hire Katsu. The batter is fried to perfection.
I want to love it more here but we had to go through a bit of trial and error, and I think they could do better. First time I got the most expensive cut (Iberico) thinking it would be the most tender but it was tough and dry. I don’t think this was just a one time thing either because our server the next time told us she preferred the fattier cuts because the leaner ones could be dry. So second time, I got the Kurobuta and it was super juicy and salty - but you have to like some fat chunks. We also got the Menchi (minced pork) which was really flavorful. Where we went wrong was with the appetizers, which we thought would be a nice little snack before our meal. We got stuffed shishito skewers and kabocha fries which were both quite large and heavily breaded. The stuffed shishitos tasted good but deep flying made them pretty greasy. Would be better just grilled. The Kabocha fries were massive (could be a main dish) and lacked flavor. The dipping sauce tasted like literally nothing. I think if they could figure out how to cook the leaner cuts better and maybe put some lighter apps on the menu I’d come here all the time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Cindy Fu (YUKIN3K0)
TL;DR: lines at opening. The curry is really good! Try the Kabocha Fries. On the spendy side, good date night spot.Parking: very small shared lot. Expect to street park during peak hours--you may have to walk a ways.Atmosphere: cozy diner feel with bar, bar tables, booths, dining tables. Not really accommodating for extra large parties.Service: pretty popular space so expect lines to form before opening. Wait to be seated, you will be watered, menu brought to you, check brought to you, box your own leftovers upon request.Menu: two descriptive pages with minimal images. There are different cuts of pork to choose from so read the descriptions carefully before choosing which one to go with your meal. Plates are a bit on the spendy side but it is very filling.Kid Friendliness: not very accommodating in terms of entertainment for little kids, high chairs available upon request, no kids menu.Kabocha Fries: it's pumpkin-like squash slices that are breaded, fried and seasoned. Very tasty!Katsu Curry Set: the meal set comes with shredded cabbage, miso soup, and a tiny dish of pickled veggies. Oh man the curry is really good. It's not spicy at all and the pickled veggies go really well with it! Who knew dark chocolate could add so much richness?! The cabbage that it comes with goes really well with the provided dressings on the table (I like the light brown sesame dressing best). Miso soup wasn't really anything to write home about but it is a nice palate cleanser along with the shredded cabbage.Kurobuta: tasty cut of pork that isn't chewy and is not dry at all! Excellent with the curry! Love the crunch and dipping it in curry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kurobuta Katsu Curry
David Lee
Gotta say I was a little disappointed. Katsu is supposed to the the star of the show but it felt like a supporting role. The appetizers were the best part of our meal. The presentation is great though, the atmosphere is fun and warm and the service was excellent. Those are the reasons I didn’t give it 3 stars. Just wish the katsu was better.
Be sure to eat all kinds of pork cutlet here. I never regret it.
SY Lee
Decent food. Okay service - didn’t finish my dish and they didn’t let me have another container to separate the sauce and the katsu (so it doesn’t come home soggy).Parking was hard. Lot is small.
Wow! This place is fantastic. If you love Japanese food you need to go here. If you have not tried Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) you NEED to and go here.Reminds me of excellent tonkatsu I’ve had in Tokyo. Beautiful presentation, perfectly cooked, and incredibly delicious. I got the basic katsu (Iberico) and my wife got the katsu-nabe (Kurobuta). Both were excellent but hers took the cake. I can’t wait to go back and try all the variations. Especially the curry.Parking: Limited parking but neighborhood parking nearbyKid-friendliness: Saw several families.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu
Best katsu don/bowl in the eastside.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mozzarella Katsu
A little katsu to warm your heart
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best katsu I’ve ever had! So crispy, juicy and flavorful! Went with a group so I was able to try more dishes. You can’t go wrong with any choice. Can’t wait to come back and try some more!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu, Kurobuta Katsu Curry
Everything is really good! Food is yummy, service is best. One of my favorite restaurant!
This place has been crowded every time I've gone, and I know why! The food is excellent. The different styles of katsu they are offering are all so unique. I want to try everything on the menu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oroshi Katsu with Iberico
Yummy! Kinda spendy but great vibes and service. Really unique authentic high quality food.
Outside of Japan you’ll be hard pressed to find a Katsu Curry this good. The line gets long on Sundays and the parking lot is ridiculously tiny. But 100% worth whatever wait or logistical hurdles you may face!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oroshi Katsu with Iberico
It was overall a good experience. I had the chicken with ume and shizo inside and it was delicious! The menu was confusing, so I ended up ordering the chicken katsu with the curry. They were both good, not sure they were the best together, that's my fault. The food was super pricey though, so don't go there unless you have 50 bucks to spend on your meal!! Tasty but will not go there often,really pricey.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Woohoo, finally a legit Japanese restaurant with real food like you’d get in Japan. Their katsu is amazing. We had the seafood box and the classic Hire Katsu. The batter is fried to perfection.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I want to love it more here but we had to go through a bit of trial and error, and I think they could do better. First time I got the most expensive cut (Iberico) thinking it would be the most tender but it was tough and dry. I don’t think this was just a one time thing either because our server the next time told us she preferred the fattier cuts because the leaner ones could be dry. So second time, I got the Kurobuta and it was super juicy and salty - but you have to like some fat chunks. We also got the Menchi (minced pork) which was really flavorful. Where we went wrong was with the appetizers, which we thought would be a nice little snack before our meal. We got stuffed shishito skewers and kabocha fries which were both quite large and heavily breaded. The stuffed shishitos tasted good but deep flying made them pretty greasy. Would be better just grilled. The Kabocha fries were massive (could be a main dish) and lacked flavor. The dipping sauce tasted like literally nothing. I think if they could figure out how to cook the leaner cuts better and maybe put some lighter apps on the menu I’d come here all the time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
TL;DR: lines at opening. The curry is really good! Try the Kabocha Fries. On the spendy side, good date night spot.Parking: very small shared lot. Expect to street park during peak hours--you may have to walk a ways.Atmosphere: cozy diner feel with bar, bar tables, booths, dining tables. Not really accommodating for extra large parties.Service: pretty popular space so expect lines to form before opening. Wait to be seated, you will be watered, menu brought to you, check brought to you, box your own leftovers upon request.Menu: two descriptive pages with minimal images. There are different cuts of pork to choose from so read the descriptions carefully before choosing which one to go with your meal. Plates are a bit on the spendy side but it is very filling.Kid Friendliness: not very accommodating in terms of entertainment for little kids, high chairs available upon request, no kids menu.Kabocha Fries: it's pumpkin-like squash slices that are breaded, fried and seasoned. Very tasty!Katsu Curry Set: the meal set comes with shredded cabbage, miso soup, and a tiny dish of pickled veggies. Oh man the curry is really good. It's not spicy at all and the pickled veggies go really well with it! Who knew dark chocolate could add so much richness?! The cabbage that it comes with goes really well with the provided dressings on the table (I like the light brown sesame dressing best). Miso soup wasn't really anything to write home about but it is a nice palate cleanser along with the shredded cabbage.Kurobuta: tasty cut of pork that isn't chewy and is not dry at all! Excellent with the curry! Love the crunch and dipping it in curry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kurobuta Katsu Curry
Gotta say I was a little disappointed. Katsu is supposed to the the star of the show but it felt like a supporting role. The appetizers were the best part of our meal. The presentation is great though, the atmosphere is fun and warm and the service was excellent. Those are the reasons I didn’t give it 3 stars. Just wish the katsu was better.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Shrimp, Cheese Tonkatsu, Mozzarella Katsu
Be sure to eat all kinds of pork cutlet here. I never regret it.
Decent food. Okay service - didn’t finish my dish and they didn’t let me have another container to separate the sauce and the katsu (so it doesn’t come home soggy).Parking was hard. Lot is small.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Mozzarella Katsu