Lunch at Tonkatsu Akinai in Fettes Park, Tanjung Tokong, last Friday. Ever since it opened back in Sep 2022, the 16-seater eatery has seen the longest queues, with an average 45-minute wait for a seat. No reservations.
Was rather lucky as a lone diner, as I managed to snare the last (single) seat at the counter. The folks in front of me in the queue were a couple. After I’d finished lunch 45 minutes later, and went up to the counter to pay the bill, they were still at the waiting area!
My order was a 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶, my fave cut for 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶, over the leaner 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶.
Each tonkatsu set comes with a bowl of steamed white rice, and a bowl of 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘪𝘳𝘶 (豚汁) - pork, burdock, carrot and leek soup, flavored with miso paste. Served alongside pickles.
My usual 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 spot in Singapore, for the past 30 years is 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶 at Isetan Scotts. In Kuala Lumpur, it was 𝗠𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻, which opened at Isetan in One Utama in 2013. Both places made 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 which are slightly better than 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶’s, but the latter has much thicker and more generous cuts, and their finely shredded cabbage are all as good as the other. 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶 definitely has the edge by virtue of its sauce.
I need to go back to 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶 again soon to try its curry 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘶 - another all-time favorite of mine.
Address
𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗶 (とんかつ 春夏冬)
98-G-43 Prima Tanjung, Jalan Fettes, 11200 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6016-540 9770
Opening hours: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6pm to 9pm daily, except Wed (Closed).
