Mr. Tonkatsu: Dedicated to its Craft

Interiors of Mr. Tonkatsu

Have you ever had trouble deciphering the difference between tonkatsu and tonkotsu?  Well, you're in luck because Mr. Tonkatsu will set you straight.  It's a shrine that worships the Japanese fried pork cutlet (tonkatsu), not the milky broth of ramen (tonkotsu) that some, the unfaithful, would confuse it with.  Their pig mascot dressed in Japanese garb and armed with a sword is yet another subtle hint that pork clearly is their specialty, but you are welcome to choose other fried Panko-battered cutlets (or "katsus") such as chicken, beef, or fish as part of your set.

The Tonkatsu Sampler
(From left to right: pork sirloin, pork tenderloin, chicken)

The tonkatsu sampler consists of pork sirloin and tenderloin katsus as well as chicken katsu, a great set for the indecisive.  The waiter explained that the pork sirloin is the most popular katsu and also has the "softest" texture.  As expected, the pork tenderloin was "firmer" but it was still quite tender in its own right.  Regardless of preference, both cutlets were juicy.  The chicken cutlet was on the bland side but there was a sweet and sticky sauce in a teardrop vessel to remedy that.  As an added novelty, you grind your personal supply of sesame seeds with a mortar and wooden pestle to give your sauce extra flavour and aroma.

Salad Dressing and Sesame Seeds

How to Enjoy Tonkatsu

The best feature of the katsu is still the crispy and far reaching deep fried Panko batter exterior.  Admittedly, although tasty, the batter holds a good amount of oil.  It's not as light as it could be but at least the katsu sits on a metal rack to allow excess oil to drip through and to preserve it's crispiness.

Accompanying the katsu is a bowl of miso, shredded cabbage and steamed rice, sides which are all refillable.  The shredded cabbage is incredibly dry and bland, perhaps to absorb all the grease from your katsu?  It's a moot point though, because you end up drenching the cabbage with sesame oil dressing anyways.  

The Fish Katsu Set is accompanied with Tartar Sauce

Nevertheless, the wait staff are friendly and attentive.  Without even looking up, our waiter replenished our sauces by squirting them directly into our bowls!

Japanese Style Deep Fried Chicken

You can't say Mr. Tonkatsu is not dedicated to their craft but be prepared for a heavy meal.  It's a relatively good option when you have a craving for fried food but it can be off-putting otherwise as everything on menu, including the appetizers, is deep fried.  Unfortunately, the cabbage doesn't help...

Mr. Tonkatsu

520 Bloor Street West

Toronto, ON M5S 1Y3

Canada

Date Visited:  March 30, 2015

The Fry

So it's basically summer, the NBA Finals are on, the World Cup is on, the US Open is on and it's hot outside. Hot, muggy and often rainy. So what can you eat? The patio is sort of off limits, the bars are an option but the food is usually not great. I still want to watch the games though so what can I do? Enter The Fry! Newly opened at Yonge and Sheppard (in the old Armando's) the Fry has expanded down from Yonge and Cummer, offering Korean style fried chicken, soups, alcohol and TVs. Best of all is they generally offer all of those things in the form of combos. Fried chicken and beer in a frozen mug? Garlic and soy sauce fried chicken and soju? Spicy rice cakes, fried chicken and a Coke in a frozen mug? All with a side of special World Cup friendly hours? That's a recipe for success in my mind.

Delicious, golden, juicy, crispy chicken

The chicken was freshly fried, juicy and crispy. The chicken came out golden brown and not the dirty brown indicative of a slacking kitchen not changing the fryer oil. The service was friendly and fluently English despite only having one waitress for the packed resto - perhaps less attentive than normal but we had enough napkins and drink so not much more attention was necessary for the devouring of fried chicken.

Pickled cabbage, salad,
macaroni salad

Spicy rice cakes with cheese,
chicken and cabbage

Garlic soy sauce fried chicken

The bill came to about $55 for three of us. We ordered a half and half combo of garlic and soy fried chicken and original fried chicken along with a spicy rice cake and chicken dish (which was delicious). We had the usual palette cooling side dishes of pickled radish, salad and (maybe not so usual) macaroni salad. We also had one I've never seen before - seared corn with some kind of buttery, mayonaisse-y, cream sauce on it which was actually delicious. The right amount of sweet and salty without being overly greasy or heavy. With the aforementioned drinks in frozen mugs, we were very full but very happy by the end of the meal so I'd say the price was reasonable.

All in all, it was a great experience and I'd definitely expect to be back there soon!

Peace,
B.