Tonkatsu by Ma Maison @ Publika

In Japanese, Ton means pork and katsu means cutlet, usually breaded and deep fried. Ma Maison means “my house”. Now you know what the restaurant’s name means. Tonkatsu by Ma Maison is a chain of restaurants from Japan that specializes in Tonkatsu, one of Japan’s most loved dishes.
Their outlet at Publika is the second in Malaysia after the first one opened at 1 Utama last year. It’s not common to see restaurants dedicated to serving only Tonkatsu so it’s quite a niche thing. But this also means that they take this dish seriously so the quality of food should be somewhat assured.

If you’re new to this novel dish and overwhelmed by the many condiments on the table, no need to fret because there is a detailed guide on how to enjoy Tonkatsu as intended.

The dipping sauce could be the second most important thing of the meal as it lets you customize the extra flavor. A flat bowl consisting of 3 compartments let you grind rock salt into it and pour your choice of Sweet or Spicy Tonkatsu sauce. And since the Tonkatsu served here is Nagoya-style, a section of the menu is dedicated to the city’s specialty: Miso Katsu.
Aging the meat is an important step in preparing Tonkatsu and you could see how it’s being done traditionally here. The meat is wrapped in white cloth and kept in a chiller for days to ensure its tenderness and flavor.

All the set menu comes with rice, tonjiru (miso soup with pork), pickles and shredded cabbage salad. For rice you have a choice of plain steamed rice or jyukkokumai (multi grain rice) which is refillable for no extra charge. The same goes for the tonjiro and salad too.
Certain set menu like the Mameton Set @ RM35.90 as seen above comes with the Nyumen (thin noodles in hot soup) as well. The Mameton Set is one of the top seller here for having three kinds of katsu served together: premium pork loin, lean pork fillet and panko-covered prawn.

There is a also a small selection of chicken katsu such as the Chicken Cheese Roll Katsu Set @ RM28.90. Everything tasted great and despite being deep fried, the crunchy katsu retained its juiciness well. They are well marinated as well so you could actually enjoy them on their own.
As for the dipping sauce we found both the sweet and spicy Tonkatsu sauce’s taste slightly too sweet and the latter did not taste spicy at all. Somehow the Japanese mayonnaise dip worked best for us and it went extremely well with anything.

Kakifurai (deep fried oysters) @ RM5.50/pc – awesome, I really liked it. And if you look into the kitchen through the transparent glass, you could see how they prepare the pork cutlets before they go into the fryer.

Overall it was a pleasant experience, great times was had and I actually finished an additional serving of rice here. Even though the main item is meat and deep fried, unlimited servings of fresh vegetables is provided to even out the meal. The only and major deterrent for us to make a return visit would be the price, which is quite expensive.

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