Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin

Digest Step Up to the Plate

November 15, 2015

Story By: Abby Sadoy |

Facebook

Twitter

A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S HOUSE SPECIAL: Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu ($36 with miso soup, cabbage salad, pickles, toasted sesame seeds and rice; $32 a la carte)

Kick it with some katsu down at Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin, where an abundance of unique katsu specialties can be found.

Serving authentic Japanese cuisine, the restaurant has resided in Waikiki for about eight years, tending to customers with top-notch food and service.

“We’re always looking for perfect ingredients to use,” says administrator and marketing manager Mioko Yamanouchi. These details are so perfect, in fact, that the company even created its own brand of frying oil, katsu sauce and bread crumbs used solely at Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin restaurants.

One specialty is Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu, which uses Berkshire hog pork known for its supreme quality. This dish is so delicately created that only 25 plates are made per day in an effort to keep the meat fresh. Diners can devour it alone, or with miso soup, cabbage salad, pickles, toasted sesame seeds and rice for an additional fee (the miso soup, cabbage salad and rice are all-you-can-eat).

During dinner only, fresh pots of rice made in an okama (cast-iron pot) are brought right to the tables, and from Sunday through Thursday, guests may enjoy a lunch special from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Come Friday and Saturday from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m., patrons are diving into a delightful izakaya menu, complete with sushi and kushikatsu.