Tonkatsu at Saboten

Curiosity has been satisfied last night as we were able to try out Saboten's tonkatsu dishes at the Changi Airport. From their website, " the deep-fried breaded pork cutlet comes in tenderloin and loin. The darker tenderloin has less fat, marinates well and makes for a leaner tonkatsu that is soft to the bite; while the lighter colour loin is firmer and is the choice pork fillet for the perfect traditional Tonkatsu. Pork of selected breeds is used and barley is added to the pig feed to give sweeter and tenderer meat and ultimately more delicious pork. And only mature pigs (180 days of age or older) are used for their juicier pork, which comes about from the higher fat content. More mature pigs also give pork meat of softer textures."

That explains why their meat is tender, juicy and has a soft texture which makes it seem like you are not at all eating pork. Despite being deep fried, you wouldn't get feel that oily taste lingering in your mouth at every bite. We were also instructed to pound the sesame seeds given to us in a bowl and pour 3 scoops of the tonkatsu sauce over it once done.

We had the Saboten Special set ($25) which consists of deep-fried breaded prawn, creamy crab croquette, deep-fried pork loin and pork tenderloin. The hubby ordered the seasonal Ebi Katsu Tenderloin set ($26) which has ebi katsu and tenderloin.

We started off the with the shredded cabbage salad which comes with two dressings: the yuzu and goma. You can combine them both but we preferred just using the former as it has that refreshing peanut, sesame flavor. Yuzu, on the other hand, is soya with lime. The rice, shredded cabbage salad and miso soup are of unlimited serving.

The deep-fried breaded prawn taste like your usual shrimp tempura but this one is more filling and crunchier to the bite. The rest of the fried stuff were not bad. Eventhough, we took time to enjoy our meal (read: eat at a turtle-like pace), the food remained crunchy.

Overall, the food being offered in Saboten didn't disappoint. And just us we are about to leave, we were reminded that the sets that we ordered came in with a dessert - a scoop of green tea ice cream which we  weren't able to finish as we are already full from all that tonkatsu goodness.