Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin

Name: Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin
Location: 255 Beach Walk, Honolulu
Cuisine: Japanese
Website: www.ginzabairin.com
Rating: 4/5

Oahu has so many restaurants with great reviews online which makes it hard to choose a place to eat. Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin, a famous franchise, was one of our choices that we ended up going to because luckily we were craving for some good tonkatsu! The restaurant was originally established in Ginza, Tokyo and now has locations in Hawaii, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and other places in Asia. Their main specialty is their tonkatsu, but they also offer many other traditional dishes.

Located near the busy street of Kalakaua Avenue, Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin was easy to find with an underground parking nearby. The exterior of the restaurant looked very modern with large wooden picture windows, and the interior had the same clean and modern style. We had to wait around 20-30 minutes for a table because the restaurant was very busy with a few others waiting as well. The wait wasn't too bad because there was an ABC shop nearby which was always a fun place to browse.

The restaurant had many cute decorations throughout the place.

We were seated in front of the kitchen area that was separated by a glass wall. It was pretty cool watching the chefs cook and prepare all the dishes.

They had many items on their menu but we were only interested in getting their Pork Katsu.

Orion Premium Draft Beer

Refreshing beer perfect for two people!

At every table, there was a tray of tonkatsu sauce, soy sauce, salt, mustard and some kind of pickled vegetable. I tried the pickled vegetable but wasn't a fan of it because it tasted kind of weird.

We each received a bowl of sesame with a pestle to grind it down to our liking and use in our tonkatsu sauce. This was quite fun!

Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu 7 oz ($36)

We both ordered the Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu that came with rice, miso soup and salad. The cutlet was very thick and cooked perfectly through without making it dry. The meat was really juicy and flavourful, and the breading gave it a delicious crunch.

Look at how thick the piece of meat was! The only thing I didn't like was the fat on the side of the pork loin which could have been cut off. Kevin didn't mind it at all, but I personally don't like biting into fat. Other than that, I still loved it!

The meal was really filling which meant we could have ordered a smaller portion instead of the 7 oz. Overall, the service was quick and friendly and the food tasted great! It's really cool how they have two locations in Korea which I'll definitely visit the next time I'm there.

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