Back for More: Competent Katsu and Insane Happy Hour at Kato-Ya

For our Back For More blog series, we revisit the great and the good (and rarely, the not so good) of the Beijing F&B scene, those restaurants that we feel deserve to be brought back into the spotlight. 

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing when it comes to food. That restaurant you enjoyed so much for the cheap dishes and even cheaper beer when you were a student? Don't go back as a sober, discerning adult, unless you want to stamp all over your happy memories. That being said, sometimes an old favorite comes out of the woodwork and surprises you.

RELATED: Our favorite hidden izakayas in Beijing

This was certainly the case with Kato-Ya, a simple Japanese café just around the corner from Great Leap #45 Brewpub, where I found myself for the first time in years after the frigid Beijing weather left us unwilling to travel far away from the warmth of Great Leap but in need of non-burger sustenance. Back in my intern days, long since lost in the mists of time, Kato-ya was a favorite refuelling stop before a night out in Sanlitun because of their hearty Japanese comfort food and crazily cheap all-you-can-drink happy hour.

Drinkers will be happy to learn that the happy hour is still going on and is still very cheap. Just RMB 35 gets you two hours of free-flow draft Beijing beer anytime between the hours of 5-9pm. Considering draft beers are RMB 15-20 each anyway, that's a pretty good deal. Pay RMB 10 more to add free-flow sake – the Beijinger cannot be held responsible for your actions afterward. 

The food, too, has stood the test of time and may actually be even better than I remember it. Kato-ya specializes in tonkatsu, breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets, and if you stick with those you'll have a very pleasant meal indeed. I went for the standard tonkatsu with a side of curry soba noodles and found the pork to be crispy without being greasy, although if I was picking holes I would say that the pork was a touch on the dry side. Still, that's what the curry sauce is for. My dining companion ordered the cheese-stuffed tonkatsu with curry and rice (pictured in lead image) and was suitably impressed. Portions of tonkatsu are priced around RMB 30-40, with meals sets (including rice, soup, and salad, as well as the option of curry sauce on many) around RMB 40-50 – decidedly cheap for the area. 

My only beef is that they have got rid of their short menu of highballs and mixed drinks – a staple on most cheap and cheerful izakaya menus – of which I have particularly fond memories of the Campari and grapefruit soda. A request for a Suntory and soda (the classic Japanese haibōru) somehow ended up as a large pour of Jim Beam on the rocks accompanied by a lukewarm glass of soda. I drank it anyway, naturally, but I hope they'll consider my suggestion to add more drinks back onto the menu.

More stories by this author here.

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Photos: Robynne Tindall, dianping.com