Katsu Jin

Katsu Jin in Pasadena offers a lovely, stomach filling Japanese tonkatsu meal set, comfortably in San Gabriel Valley

When I made plans to meet up with Carla for lunch, I knew that she preferred to meet in Pasadena. So, after some searching, I found Katsu Jin, in South Pasadena.

After parking in the lot, I found my way inside. Once you sit down, you order for the table via QR code. When you press send, the kitchen gets to work. Once complete, a server brings your meal.

As I was craving the memories of tonkatsu in Osaka, I ordered the PORK KATSU SET MEAL (Served with Koshihikari rice, miso soup, cabbage salad and side dish) and added a side of curry.

To prepare for the arrival of the meal, our server brought us small containers with textured interior, filled with a little bit of sesame seeds. I greatly enjoyed the fact that I could crush the sesame seeds in the sauce bowl, to add additional flavor to the main dipping sauce that the meal comes with.

When my meal set arrived, I loved how everything was presented. It was visually appealing and brought back memories of Japan. Neat, with everything in its own place – and flavor filled.

Personally, I loved the curry sauce and would highly recommend it. It goes perfectly over the rice and as a dipping sauce for the cutlets. The miso soup was light and mild, with pieces of green onion and seaweed. It was the type of average miso soup that I love. The pickled vegetables were a textured delight. Mainly, I enjoyed dipping the cutlets in the curry sauce, tasting it – and then doing the same thing with the teriyaki like sauce as well.

The shredded cabbage salad with dressing was good. However, Carla mentioned that she would have liked to have a choice of dressing instead of what came with the dish. Which, I understood. Personally, I enjoyed it.

Carla order the CHICKEN KATSU and really enjoyed it. She also really enjoyed the MANGO ICE GREEN TEA. I had a Sprite and, due to the heat, a high amount of water.