Katsu-Based Dishes and a Diverse Menu
In this post, I would like to introduce Katsu Bar, where you can enjoy a wide range of dishes centered around katsu, from Korean-style tteokbokki, curry, to udon. The katsu here is made with carefully selected breadcrumbs and high-quality rosemary salt, minimizing oil absorption during frying, resulting in a crispier and lighter texture. Thanks to this, it’s a place where you can enjoy a delicious meal without feeling burdened. In addition to katsu, there are also various side dishes that pair well, making it fun to choose according to your taste.
Katsu Bar has several locations, and we visited the Glendale branch. This location operates both Katsu Bar and Poke Bar, allowing you to enjoy not only katsu but also poke. A detailed introduction to the Poke Bar menu has been posted separately, which you can check through the link.(link) The menu items we ordered included Dill Egg Salad Sando, Katsu Plate, Shrimp Plate, Korean Gang Jung, Yubu Set, and for drinks, we chose Strawberry Milk and Strawberry Ade.
First, we chose Katsu Plate and Shrimp Plate as our main dishes, ordering them with Original Sauce and Curry, respectively. Each plate was served with rice, salad, macaroni, and pickled radish, allowing us to enjoy a balanced meal. The katsu had a crispy coating that was not too thick, preserving the texture of the meat, and it harmonized particularly well with the slightly sweet sauce. The fried food had less of the greasy feeling typical of frying, making it easy to eat. The shrimp tempura had a coating that was not overly thick, keeping the inside moist, and even when eaten with curry, it remained crispy until the last bite. The curry was mild and smooth, pairing well with the shrimp, making it easy to enjoy alongside the fried items.
Next, we tried the Dill Egg Salad Sando, a sandwich filled with creamy egg salad between fluffy and moist bread, enhanced by dill, which added a subtle aroma and refreshing flavor. This allowed for a cleaner taste compared to regular egg salad, and overall, the harmony of the ingredients made it a light and enjoyable menu option. Korean Gang Jung is a Korean-style crispy chicken with bite-sized pieces of fried chicken tossed in sauce, and we chose the Sweet & Spicy Garlic sauce. The crispy coating harmonized well with the sweet yet subtly spicy flavor, making it quite appetizing. Notably, even though it was tossed in sauce, the fried chicken maintained a good crunch, and the inside was tender and moist, resulting in a high level of overall quality.
The Yubu Set is a menu that consists of rice and desired toppings stuffed inside tofu pockets, featuring a total of four varieties. There’s the Cheese Buldak, which combines spicy fire chicken with savory cheese; the Wasabi Shrimp, where plump shrimp are complemented by the subtle sharpness of wasabi; the Bulgogi, which harmonizes sweet sauce with rice for a familiar yet easy-to-enjoy flavor; and the Spicy Salmon, where fresh salmon is enhanced with spicy seasoning for a savory taste. Each topping has a distinct personality and pairs well with the rice, but personally, I found the Wasabi Shrimp and Spicy Salmon to be my favorites.
Lastly, the Strawberry Milk was a drink that harmoniously blended the natural sweetness of strawberries with the creaminess of milk. Fresh strawberries were crushed into the drink, allowing the fruit’s texture to be felt, and the fresh sweetness of the strawberries was preserved without any artificial taste, making it even more delicious. Thanks to its smooth and subtle sweetness, it was also great to enjoy as a dessert. The Strawberry Ade, on the other hand, was a refreshing drink enhanced with carbonation, offering a sweet yet light flavor. With bits of fruit, it was fun to chew on, and it was a great choice for a clean finish after a meal, as it was not heavy and very refreshing.
Katsu Bar
How about visiting Katsu Bar, which stands out with its variety of katsu dishes and unique menu offerings, to enjoy a hearty and satisfying meal?
