Saboten – Japanese Tonkatsu

On my brother’s birthday last year, he treated us to this restaurant somewhere in Eastwood. I thought the name sounded funny, but hey, when there’s free food, who’s to complain?

My first impression was that of “Mind Blown” variety. The interior was absolutely breath-taking! I rarely take photos of the interior of the restaurant, but the way they added different patterns to the walls and ceiling made me wish I had thought of that for my room!

Normally, in any of my food posts, I never talk about the salad. I’m not much of a veggie eater, I prefer the meaty proteins, but this? That dressing they have is pure genius, ok? I’m not sure if it’s sesame vinaigrette or a really well-seasoned thousand island dressing, but that is one amazing salad! Simple, clean, and very addicting! I ate two bowls of salad, and that is just weird.

And now the main event! Saboten is said to be known for their tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) and wow, was I ever surprised! The meat may be thick, but it was super tender and the breading is also absolute heaven! Why, you ask? Because the breading is crunchy but soft at the same time!

You know how some fried food tend to have hard breading that scratch the roof of your mouth? This is nothing like that, yet it’s still crispy! You gotta try it!

Oh, and they give you your own sesame seeds to crush up and add to your own tonkatsu sauce too, which I found really amusing… not to mention delicious! And their ebi furai (fried shrimp)uses the same breading as their tonkatsu so it’s just as good! (Or maybe the tonkatsu is still better?)

Overall very delicious, albeit a bit on the pricey range, but hey, according to a friend of ours, this place can compete with the many tonkatsu places in Japan. When you put it that way, a trip to Japan would be more expensive than eating here, so I say, it’s money well spent!