Tonshou, the world's first charcoal-grilled pork cutlet restaurant from Korea, has been on my radar since they opened late December 2024 and I was so glad I finally went with a friend recently for our long overdue meet up. The small shophouse restaurant was in the Tanjong Pagar area and had limited seating, which is why I had avoided it when they first opened because you cannot make any reservations. Instead, you have to join the virtual queue and turn up within 7 minutes when your number is called. I did exactly that and the long snaking queues were gone so me and my friend only waited for about 20 minutes to be seated after arriving at 7pm.
Tonshou is a popular charcoal grilled tonkatsu place from Busan and their Singapore outlet is the first international outlet, which is a big deal. My expectations were quite high because they are a specialty tonkatsu restaurant, meaning they only do one thing, and that thing should be good.
I think the counter seats make people eat more quickly - it is definitely not a chit chat and linger opposite each other at regular tables type of place but more of a eat side by side, enjoy the food, then leave.
Here are some pages of their menu. Prices are also decent, starting from $28 for the Hire Katsu (recommended). All sets come with corn soup, free flow rice and cold green tea.
The cold corn soup was refreshing and light, which whetted my appetite for the set which was quickly served upon ordering. They have a very efficient team behind the counter!
Apparently, Tonshou uses a unique four-stage cooking process using low heat, high heat, resting and charcoal grilling. My friend had the Hokkaido Kurobuta Rosu Katsu Set (S$32), which I tried a piece of. It was fatty, juicy and meaty with the distinctive Kurobuta taste. I really enjoyed that but I wonder if I would be able to finish everything if I had this by myself. 4/5
Instead, I got the recommended Hire Katsu Set ($28) which features these coined sized pieces of clean-tasting pork that is purposely pink in the middle. Yes, they even had a sign to tell you this is on purpose and it is safe to consume. I believe them too - a restaurant like Tonshou stakes their reputation on preparing the pork exactly the way it should be done. Every bite was so good I did not even finish half the rice! The clean tasting tender pork with the perfectly crispy exterior was delicious. I struggled towards the end to finish the last two pieces but managed. I was stuffed, but in a good way. 4.5/5
Overall it was a great experience trying out the Korean tonkatsu at Tonshou. It was delicious and value-for-money and the queue wasn't too long. Would recommend!
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Tonshou
51 Tras St, Singapore 078990
Daily 11am to 9.30pm
Join the virtual queue at this link
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