Anzu Tonkatsu!

Johan and I were in Taipei today helping out with the setup for TEDx Monga and around dinner time we went to check out some retail shops as research for our new business venture.  Anyways Joe gave us a call and asked if we wanted to join him and his family for dinner. It sounded like a nice idea so we took the MRT and met him at the restaurant.

The name of the place was Anzu and their specialty is tonkatsu.  We sat down and started out with this big bowl of salad greens and finely shredded cabbage (the salad is all you can eat). There was a nice ranch dressing and this delicious Japanese miso dressing with lemon in it. Marvelous taste!

For appetizer we ordered oyster katsu. They came served in their shell. To be honest I didn't even realize it was ouster until I had almost eaten the while thing. It just had a really light but flaky batter on the outside and it was juicy on the inside.

Next was the main course!  Joe had just had a meeting with a  Japanese client the night before who introduced him on how to eat tonkatsu the real way.  First you take the mortar and pestal each person is given and you smash up some toasted sesame seeds until half if it is powder while adding a bit of sea salt in for taste. You then sprinkle this seasoning over you tonkatsu.  Then in the now empty mortar bowl you add the tonkatsu sauce for dipping. Then you dig in!

The tonkatsu batter was so light and the meat was juicy and high quality.  One of the best tonkatsu I've ever eaten.  The meal also came with some pickled vegetables, rice, and miso soup (clam or veg).  All this for about 10-11 dollars! Great value.  And Joe ended up treating us all so that was super nice of him.  Thanks Joe!  I'm starting to know Joe better and he's a great guy and I'm glad to have him as a business partner.