At Tokyo Crispy, deep fried food has never tasted so good

My first attempt at dining here failed. I went just after they opened for lunch service and already there was a line out the door.

In fairness it is a small room with a capacity for approximately 20 guests and back then it appeared they had even fewer seats.

Gyoza dumpling options are offered as both deep-fried and pan-fried and I chose the latter. They were nice enough, although I would have wished for a little more crisping on the fried side. 

The minced chicken was light and almost fluffy, but I could have used more seasoning such as ginger, garlic and/or scallions. At $9 for five, it was a little punchy.

Tokyo Crispy is a restaurant that specializes in katsu, which you might think of as schnitzel. Like schnitzel, pork and chicken are most commonly used.

In North America, too many restaurants feel the need to offer a wide range of cuisines on a single menu. Jack of all trades and master of none.

Tokyo Crispy also fits into a tradition of Japanese restaurants that have narrow specialties. Ramen shops offer ramen, yakitori restaurants make char-grilled skewered meats, and soba shops specialize in dishes using only soba noodles.

So I was in no way surprised that the katsu here was this good. 

The dish was served with miso soup, a side of sweet pickled daikon radish, and plain rice. The soup was rather simple with just green onion but it tasted as if there was the addition of sake. It wasn’t alcoholic at all but there was something mildly fruity and it was quite pleasant. 

The chicken cutlet had been hammered thin, expertly battered and finished in panko. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the crust seasoned just enough. The large cutlet had been done in a savoury sauce of aged red miso making this dish a winner. 

As a seasonal specialty, they’ve put a fish cake udon soup on the menu topped with katsuoboshi (bonito flakes).

Udon broth is made using bonito flakes, kombu (seaweed), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine). It was a warming dish, the plain noodles slowly absorbing the tasty broth.

The fish cakes were better than average, meaning that they didn’t taste fishy. I realize it’s oxymoronic to suggest this, but too many of these commercially made fish cakes taste as if they’re at the wrong end of the life cycle. 

Given the simplicity of the broth and the execution required for this soup, $19 was, again, a little pricey.

If the chicken katsu reminded me of schnitzel, the Seoul menchi katsu tasted close to another great German treat: frikadelle. 

A frikadelle is a domed patty, halfway between a burger and meatball, made of mixed ground beef and pork, onions, raw egg and bread crumbs.

Here, the ground pork patty was panko-crusted and covered in a very good house-made Korean brown sauce. Putting aside the effect of reading the words “brown sauce ”on a menu, the recipe was even more memorable than the chicken katsu. 

It was in fact one of the best-tasting dishes I’ve had this winter. The bed of onions on which it rested were sumptuously softened and glazed in a sweet soy. A very nice experience when combined with a scoop of the perfectly steamed rice.

Based on my previous experience, I was afraid that arriving at 12:15 (they open at 11:30) I would be too late for a seat. I had success, but half an hour later, the small waiting area was full. 

There are enough eateries that attempt katsu and I’ve largely found the experience to be disappointing. An exception is Kitchen Maroo and if you like this cuisine, indulge in a comparison tasting. 

When at Tokyo Crispy, and I can’t believe I’m saying this but, stick with the fried foods. They also have panko shrimp and takoyaki (octopus) as appetizers but those will be for another day.

I’m glad they focus on such a tight menu because what they do – they do exceptionally well.