Tonkichi Takashimaya – Tonkatsu restaurant at Ngee Ann City

Tonkichi Takashimaya is one of the long-standing restaurants at Ngee Ann City. Located on the restaurant level 4 of Ngee Ann City, some of the others that have been there as long as I can remember are Crystal Jade and Angus Steak House.  We thought it was time we paid them a visit and try some deep-fried pork tonkatsu.

Tonkichi Takashimaya has a light-wood decor that is typical of many Japanese restaurants. Neat and efficient are words that come to mind.  The tables are a bit small and the place became somewhat congested when the crowds started arriving and it was full house with a waiting line on a Saturday afternoon.

Tonkichi Takashimaya menu

A specialty restaurant like Tonkichi is good for indecisive people because the choices are quite limited. Each main dish revolves around deep-fried food – pork, chicken and certain types of seafood.  Order a set meal and you get a miso soup, small appetizer and free flow of rice and cabbage. A la carte orders are also possible. Here are pictures of some pages from the Tonkichi Takashimaya menu.

A pretty mortar and pestle set was made available for us to grind away the time and some sesame seeds while waiting for our food.  The crushed seeds release a nice fragrance and can be added to sauce for the tonkatsu.

We tried a Hire Katsu Toji Set ($20.80). This is a ‘wet’ version of the usual tonkatsu. The deep-fried pork fillet was cooked in a claypot with eggs and some special soy sauce.  It does not have the crunch of the pure fried pork but in return you get the extra taste of the sauce which is slightly sweet.  A dish we recommend for those who find the plain tonkatsu a bit too dry.

Our other set meal was the Rosu Katsu Set ($19.80) – deep fried pork loin. We noticed the difference between the “Rosu” and “Hire” cuts of pork. The terms refer to pork loin and pork fillet respectively.  The loin cut had fatty bits and would appeal to those who like their pork more moist and juicy. For us, we preferred the “Hire” version which was mainly lean meat. The Rosa Katsu set was the classic tonkatsu meal at Tonkichi. The meat was tender without any ‘porky’ smell and the batter was light and only very slightly oily.

Overall the tonkatsu quality at Tonkichi Takashimaya have been maintained since we were last there quite some time ago. Which explains the constant flow of customers.

Ratings:
Food: 3
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Overall: 3 TOPs  

Tonkichi Takashimaya
391 Orchard Road
Ngee Ann City #04-24
Singapore 238872

Tonkichi Singapore Facebook