Eat Drink KL: Tonkatsu By Ma Maison @ 1 Utama

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Tonkatsu By Ma Maison @ 1 Utama

Admirers of Tonkatsu By Ma Maison at Singapore's Mandarin Gallery insist the city-state's tastiest pork cutlets can be relished there; now that this brand has come to the Klang Valley, it's time to see whether customers here will feel the same.

Tonkatsu By Ma Maison opened this week at Isetan 1 Utama's Eat Paradise, the haven for Japanese food luminaries like Menya Musashi & Ichiro Sushi Bar.

Deep-fried delights: The "Mameton" set (RM32.90) is the signature sampler, featuring pork loin, pork fillet & prawns with a juicy, robust-tasting crunch.

In Singapore, Tonkatsu By Ma Maison's trump card is the use of premium pork from the Japanese Kurobuta black boars & Hungarian Mangalica curly-haired hogs. Woefully, neither of those piggy breeds is available here because of Malaysian importation hurdles.

Sets come with a free-flow of fresh shredded cabbage & white or multi-grain rice, sweet & spicy tonkatsu sauces with sesame seeds ...

... plus tonjiru pork-veggie miso soup & somen in dashi broth.

Extra bowls of thick-as-pea-soup Japanese curry & miso sauce can be ordered too.

How does Tonkatsu by Ma Maison stack up to Pavilion's Tonkatsu By Wa Kitchen? Both are very nice; residents of PJ can now head to the former, while city folk might stick with the latter.

Tonkatsu By Ma Maison's menu is expected to expand by this weekend, with crab & oyster croquettes & egg-topped katsu don set to make their debut.

Tonkatsu By Ma Maison,
Eat Paradise, Isetan 1 Utama, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya,