Saboten in Aberdeen Centre opened in January this year, taking over the old Japanese pizza place Strawberry Cones. According to the Saboten website, they have over 500 locations and is one of the largest Tonkatsu chains in the world.
With such a high reputation, I expected some delicious, crispy and juicy pieces of Pork!
Their Katsu Sandwich is very popular and was sold out by the time I got there. I spotted the Sandwich at the table beside me and I glared with jealousy.
I ordered the Tenderloin & Loin set, which comes with miso soup, rice, cabbage, and sides of 2 sauces, pickles and a sesame-pepper grind.
The fried pork looked promising but the taste failed to impress. The meat was dry and flavorless, at least it was nice and crispy.
The set comes with 2 dipping sauces, and I didn't know which was to dip in which dish. Very confusing. I tried both and they were bland, as was the salt-pepper grind.
It would have been nice to have some sort of instructions for customers to know which sauce was for which.
The portion was small but it comes with a large bowl of rice and soup that quickly fills you up.
I've been to a few Tonkatsu chains, with my favorite being PinTian in Taiwan (one of my most memorable dining experiences) and Saboten was a little disappointing. I will be back to try the Katsu Sandwich though!
Overall
Their Katsu sandwich is very popular-get there early if you want to try it
One of those places you try at least once
Awww too bad you didn't have a good experience. I tried the katsu sandwich, it was indeed quite good. For the price, I thought it was alright even though it was small (only 2 thin slices of white bread with no crust). The chef told me they only sell 20 sandwiches per day! Maybe it's a little more now, but I find that kind of weird...
ReplyDeleteOnly 20? Whoa, I got to head over there early next time!
ReplyDelete