Class Cutlet: Top Tonkatsu From Saboten

Somebody important must like tonkatsu. Possibly a big boss at Parkview Green, or a restaurant license-issuing bureaucrat. Because while other restaurants slated to open in Parkview Green remain merely “slated,” Saboten (along with Du Hsiao Yueh) has been given the blessing to begin serving. Business hours are currently limited to brief windows at lunch and dinner, but that’s the only evidence Saboten is still technically in “preopening.” Usually, this is industry-speak designed to excuse a wine list handwritten on a napkin or explain why the staff don’t know their restaurant’s name. That’s certainly not the case at Saboten, which seems raring to go.

Besides finding the restaurant reasonably busy, we enjoyed service that was knowledgable and, if anything, slightly too enthusiastic. And they deep-fry a great cutlet. Tonkatsu sets (RMB 65-80) can be ordered cutlet-only, or served with spicy curry sauce and rice (a personal favorite). There’s katsuni (tonkatsu atop a sizzling egg base) or miso katsu (cutlet buried under a mountain of red miso sauce and spring onions). No matter how you dress them up, the cutlets are juicy, grease-free and coated in a flaky, golden batter. Well worth the extra cost.

Sets include refillable bowls of salad , rice, pickles and a good miso soup. For starters, try the chilled cubes of tofu and deep-fried skewers of tenderloin with onion or asparagus with bacon. At the other end, a stick of apple deep-fried with honey and crushed peanuts makes for a sweet parting.

Also try: Hosen, Katoya

Saboten 胜博殿日式炸猪排 Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5-7pm. B2/F, Unit LG2-12, Parkview Green, 9 Dongdaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区东大桥路9号芳草地室地下2层LG2-12

By subway: 300m south of Dongdaqiao station (Line 6)