On The Golden Triangle Tour for All Japan Tours we made a stop to this middle of nowhere place in Shizuoka Prefecture. We had made our way here from Hakone where we had great views of Mt. Fuji. It was a long journey and for sure my stomach was ready for lunch. This place is called Kodawari Tonkatsu Katsuei and is located in Gotemba. As we were escorted to our seats we could see that all the food was ready and waiting for us.
Some of you may be wondering what is Tonkatsu? Well it is a breaded, deep fried pork cutlet usually served with cabbage. At this restaurant, I was looking for the sauce to put on top of my succulent pork cutlet, but before I could pour the sweet nectar, the server pointed out that we need to grind the sesame seeds in the bowl first. When we asked how much we should grind, she replied with “to your taste.” After placing a reasonable amount of sesame, I began to crush the seeds then mixed it with the sauce. There were two sauces to choose from where one was spicy and the other was sweet.
I chose to have the sweet sauce since I am very weak against spicy flavors. There were different salad dressings available, but I personally love the sesame dressing or goma one. It just has this flavor of wanting more and compliments the cabbage. After all the preparations, I began to devour the delicious tonkatsu and it was not as oily as the ones I had before, which was great. One by one my amazement at the quality of each piece continued and I could not help, but feel sad when I reached the last bite. As another serving would have been welcomed, there was no more time. Our bus was departing and nothing was left on my plate. I can still recall the experience when the pork cutlet reached my lips, savoring the tonkatsu flavor. If I had a chance to go back to this restaurant, then I would without a second notice.
