Most variations of premium tonkatsu tend to be around the texture of the batter and quality of the meat. Tonshou's version of tonkatsu, however, focuses on the flavour of the meat and batter, as well as the doneness of the meat, which is quite unusual. Their take on the flavour is achieved by charcoal grilling, whereas they achieve a medium-well doneness of the pork by using a period of low heat frying followed by high heat frying. Interestingly, despite the Japanese name, they are actually a Korean outfit, imparting their special take on the popular Japanese cuisine.
Furthermore, there were these little grainy bits like the ground skin of the corn kernel (officially called the perikarp). These are the tiny transparent specks in the photo above. They added a very nice and interesting bite to the texture that was still smooth and non-intrusive, while giving the soup a more natural feel, differentiating it completely from canned corn soup. You could chew on them if you like to but you could also just ignore them and slurp away. I think this is because they just made the soup by blending a lot of whole corn kernels as the base.
During my visit, I was impressed by a variety of little joys here and there, so even before we get into the quality of the food, I will say that it is worth at least 1 visit by everyone who likes tonkatsu, just to experience all these different intricate details. But first, let's get into the food.
Hokkaido Kurobuta Rosu Katsu
First of all, I need to warn you that we did wait for quite a long time for the mains to arrive. I think their special preparation process meant that they spent a long time deep frying the meat at the 2 temperatures, resting in between then further needing to charcoal grill it. Thankfully, we are served some free flow corn soup in the meantime (more on that below), which turned out to be my favourite part of the meal.
Even right off the bat, the different visuals are striking. I ordered their Hokkaido Kurobuta Rosu Katsu Set. The Hokkaido Kurobuta Rosu Katsu is one of their more premium specialty items and the only series on their menu where they use a jet black batter, probably coloured with charcoal. They were out of their "Special" version of this set unfortunately, otherwise I would have wanted to try that. By default, it comes at 75% doneness, which I suppose equates to medium-well based on the colour. It was slightly pink as you can see in the photo, but it is definitely less rosy than the version in their official menu (which makes it look more like a smoked duck colour). You can also request that they cook it well-done if you prefer that, but you might have to order through the waitstaff instead of via the QR code.
Tastewise, I was watching out for the charcoal grill flavour. Perhaps because of this expectation, it did not seem as prominent as I had expected, and was quite different in quality from anything else I had come to associate smoky flavours with. Perhaps it could be said to be 97% the flavour of vapours from fried meat, and the remaining 3% would be a vague hint of smoke notes (which requires burning, and there was just a small hint of anything burnt). It was as if the meat was hung for a long time in the fumes from a panfried meat over a gas flame or from hotplate steaks that are still sizzling such as in Pepper Lunch. Then just imagine that smell and flavour imparted into the pork. Instead of charcoal, I had thought it was more like a dry fuel or gas canister smoke flavour, because those tend to burn and smoke less than charcoal.
To make it clear, due to the lack of burnt notes, it is certainly nothing like the wok hei from charcoal fire stir fried Chinese dishes, and certainly nowhere near the charcoal burnt taste that features prominently in claypot dishes in Asia. It is also nothing like the cured smoked meats such as smoked salmon or anything burnt like cigar notes. It was also nothing like the ash-like burnt charcoal taste of barbequed meats.
Apparently, this black batter version is supposed to have a more smoky flavour than the normal version, so it was quite a disappointment. While there were certainly very vague hints of smoky notes, it is not anywhere near worthy of the marketing hype, so it felt gimmicky.
The pork itself was more buttery and sweet, less earthy and not gamey at all. It had a very smooth flavour. Strangely, it didn't strike me as intense or savoury like wagyu at all, so it is different from the usual kurobuta. Perhaps this what they refer to as the kurobuta from Hokkaido having sweet and creamy notes that are clean-tasting, and I would totally agree. I suspect the "special" cut that was sold out might have a more intense pork flavour.
Apart from that, the meat seemed to be seasoned a bit with some salt, and also a hint of something sour, like some ponzu-like vinegar was used, but just a hint of it. It was a subtle but good balance for the sweet, creamy and buttery Hokkaido pork.
The batter didn't come across as very crunchy or crisp at first, even leaning a bit soft or even soggy on the outside, and you can even see that it seems kind of shiny in a moist but not greasy way at some angles in the photos. But in the mouth, there was a clear crisp crunch to the bite, so no complaints there, but I wouldn't count on it staying crisp if you ordered takeaway. Perhaps the final grilling process caused the batter to be moistened on the surface, but the inside retained the crisp.
Rosu Katsu Set
We also ordered the non-kurobuta rosu katsu set, which we requested to be well-done. Once again, there was a slight flavour of meat vapours and only vague smokiness around the edges of the palate. I'm not sure if the colour played tricks on me, but any smoke taste felt even less obvious.
But this was slightly more porky than the Hokkaido kurobuta version.
If you prefer the flavour of pork, I actually think this is better and cheaper than the Hokkaido kurobuta version. After all, what is tonkatsu without the porkiness? It is the earthy porky flavour that I also feel pairs well with the grain and egg notes in the batter and the dark Worcestershire and tangy notes in the tonkatsu sauce.
Cold Corn Soup
Strangely for me, the highlight was the cold corn soup. It comes free flow with every set, as does the rice, kimchi, cabbage and miso soup.
This is one of the best appetisers I've had in a long time. It was super corny in flavour, very similar to corn ice cream (think of Tofu G gelato in corn flavour), but much less sweet, more savoury and creamier like they used evaporated milk instead of normal milk. Think of the creaminess like the milk tea cream foam cap, but with evaporated milk and butter used instead of filled milk and much creamier.
It was such a treat and I was so happy that it was free flow. I had to refrain from requesting too many servings because I wanted to save space for the mains. But I would have more of this over the free flow rice, kimchi or soup anytime. This alone was worth the visit to me.
Magical Wet Wipes (entertaining, but not useful)
This was another interesting thing that entertained my companions and me while we waited for the mains.
Instead of the usual flat plastic wrapped wet tissues, each diner had this circular disc like a puck or thick token. There was a circle in dotted lines and instructions to "push on the center - refreshing tissue... one stop washing, cleansing, moistureizing[sic]". (Scratch head).
When you push on the centre, the perforation along the dotted line circle tears, and the vacuum compressed tissue pops up like so.
An entire wet tissue emerges from the centre like toothpaste that won't stop emerging from the tube.
If you have kids, this is probably a nice thing to entertain them with during the long wait for the food.
That said, as you might observe from the photo, it was actually quite dry and not wet. I would say that it is like vaguely moist, like clothing that have been spun VERY dry in the washing machine. When you try to wipe your fingers, your fingers remain mostly dry and just get a little sticky. So they are practically non-functional, just entertaining. The perforations probably caused the moisture to evaporate during storage.
Condiments
Apart from that gimmick, the other interesting thing is their unusual range of condiments, which are not normally found in traditional tonkatsu chains. (Click to enlarge photo above to read text.)
The yuzu dressing was meant for the cabbage, but you can use it on anything you want. For me, I thought the most interesting one was the lemon kosho sauce (greenish sauce on the right in the saucer), which I used the most with the tonkatsu. Followed by the yuzu dressing (left in the saucer). Maldon salt (in the container) was too plain. Wasabi probably works with the tonkatsu as well since mustard and pork pair well, but I didn't go for it.
Interestingly, they declare that their standard tonkatsu sauce has beef ingredients, which is not usually found in traditional tonkatsu sauces. It tasted similar to me, so I'm not sure what they added that warranted that note.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think it is definitely worth at least a first visit for all the little gimmicks and entertainment, if you eat tonkatsu at all. I was a bit disappointed by how the charcoal grill flavour was too subtle, but the smoke taste was real, even if just a hint. Taken together with the other novelties, it was still worth the visit.
But even in the long run, it is still good value because of the free flow sides if you are a big eater. Some sets like their sandwich sets go as low as S$21++, which is very good value for a semi-buffet. If you love corn soup or corn ice cream, the price is a steal for free flow portions. (Tofu G corn ice cream is already $8 a scoop.) Even their miso soup had a bunch of other ingredients such as daikon and carrots, despite the miso flavour itself being wanting. As a free flow dish though, it does work.
The only drawback is that the waitstaff said that there was a time limit of 60 minutes that starts counting as soon as you take your seat, even if your party hasn't arrived and you've not placed your order yet. That, with the long waiting time for the mains, might mean you have a limited time to enjoy the free flow of food except for the corn soup, because the rest are served together with the mains.
Discover other pork, meat and fried treats
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