I was looking for a place to have lunch after my health screening at Paragon. Since I was already right in front of the Takashimaya area, I thought I might as well look for something to satisfy my Japanese taste buds here.
Everything looked tempting because I was starving! I had nothing to eat since last night as a part of the fasting before my health screening.
I was looking for something quick but also filling.
The issue was that all the restaurants were so crowded. Long queues were everywhere, and I didn't have too much patience left!
I decided to take my chances on this tonkatsu restaurant here—Kimukatsu from Ebisu.
Read more to know how it was a little disappointing!
Kimukatsu at Takashimaya Food Hall
Address: 391A Orchard Rd, B2 Food Hall Takashimaya, Singapore 238873
It's the first time I'm trying Kimukatsu and their signature "mille-feuille" style Tonkatsu. They thinly slice pork lion and stack 25 layers to create a unique taste. I haven't tried it in Japan either.
I was already a little worried as the Queue was very short. But let's see how it goes.
The wait
After my order, they brought me this right after.
But after this, boy, they make you wait!
Or does it just feel like a long time because I'm starving? Hahaha, yes, this might be a slightly biased take.
But here are the facts. My order was at 12:16, and The Tonkatsu came at 12:34. So it was about 18 minutes of waiting time.
I would say it's acceptable, although it feels a little longer than expected in a "Food Hall" restaurant.
I would also suggest not bringing the soup until the Tonkatsu comes. I hate the soup becoming lukewarm.
So this is how my order looks.
Original Tonkatsu Set and Iced Cold Matcha - SGD 19.00
They have six different tastes for the Tonkatsu. The original, black pepper, ume-shiso, cheese, garlic, and Yuzu-Koshou.
They add these sauces within the layers of the pork itself - something you can't do in normal Tonkatsu!
However, per my policy, I always do the standard or original tastes when venturing into a new restaurant.
Here's how the Tonkatsu looks up close.
The set comes with what you'd expect from a typical Tonkatsu set. Cabbage has sesame sauce by default. There are two sauces provided for the Tonkatsu. One is a usual tonkatsu sauce, and the other, I think, is a ponzu-based sauce.
The rice comes in an "Ohitsu." - a wooden container to keep cooked rice. It helps maintain the balance of humidity in the rice after cooking, maintaining its taste longer.
Although for this case, not entirely sure if there is a functional benefit in serving this in an "Ohitsu." It still is a nice little visual twist.
The taste of the rice is pretty good. Honestly better than I expected at this price point.
Not just because it's nicely displayed, I think they allocate cost to rice to achieve a good rice quality. Of course, rice quality is indeed key to the Tonkatsu experience.
But the real issue is the main dish—the Tonkatsu.
Sadly, it's dry to the mouth and lacks the juiciness you want in a Tonkatsu.
It's like taking the dry pork lion shabu-shabu meat, stacking 25 layers of it, and taking a bite.
Yeah. Dry.
I also feel that this "mille-feuille" style removes the precious flavor of the pork lion meat. When it comes to Tonkatsu, I value the taste of the lion itself.
The meaty, delicious taste is what I let my taste buds caress.
But this "mille-feuille" style pork lion is almost tasteless. It almost feels like eating the taste of the sauce and the fried crust.
It is light Tonkatsu, and I feel there's much less fat and oil. It does feel healthier in that regard. But health isn't necessarily my priority when I'm eating Tonkatsu.
Oh - and they didn't serve Karashi!
I guess that one of the mistakes I made was that I chose "Original." I would suspect that choosing one of the flavors would help the taste in a better way.
Although looking at the other flavor options, most other choices also seem dry. The black pepper, ume-shiso, garlic, and Yuzu-Koshou won't mitigate the dryness of the meat.
I would guess that potentially cheese might help. So if ever I was forced to go to Kimukatsu again, I would probably go for the cheese flavor.
The guru rating
For the Tonkatsu - 3.5 / 10
I didn't highlight enough that it is very affordable for a Tonkatsu in the center of Singapore. Any decent choices will cost $30 or so. So there is a positioning strategy that they have. It may be a good restaurant for those on budget.
I rate everything on this website based on how much I recommend them as an authentic Japanese experience. The budget factor isn't too much of a priority for our scale.
The "Ohitsu" experience is a good sprinkle of fun. The rice was good.
However, the main Tonkatsu is too dry and lacks the taste of the pork lion meat for my liking.
So I wouldn't recommend Kimukatsu to a friend looking for an authentic Japanese tonkatsu experience. I wouldn't go back to eat here myself either. So my rating is a 3.5 for the Tonkatsu.
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