Finding myself in Aberdeen Center on a trip to Daiso for some stuff and with a hunger in my belly I hit up Saboten for some tonkatsu.  Saboten have over 500 locations worldwide and this is their newest addition.  With so many locations they must be doing something right and I’ve heard good things from a couple of friends and fellow bloggers so I was happy to try them out.

They have their menu up on the wall but if your still unsure you can refer to the obligatory plastic food menu recreations next to the cashier.

I ordered a Tenderloin and Loin Cutlet Tonkatsu Set for lunch and each set comes with these sides.  The rice was so so-it was very sticky and kind of mushy.  The pickles were something new to me, they had a nice crunch and pungent sour taste.  Sauce wise there was the standard crushed sesame seeds and the thicker soy based sauce that to me tastes like allspice that you mix together and a thinner dark sauce that I didn’t know what to do with and I didn’t care for the taste of it.  You also get a bowl of miso soup, it wasn’t anything mind-blowing but what I can say is it wasn’t bad.

This is the Pork Loin and Tenderloin Cutlet set for $8.75, it also comes with a nice side of shredded cabbage.  I ended up squeezing the lemon on it but after some thinking I suppose the thinner sauce might have been the dressing, anyways I actually really liked it with the lemon and could have eaten another bunch of it.

The pork was nice and crispy without being greasy.  The pork loin cutlet was the darker of the meat pictured above, it was a bit on the tough side but was enjoyable to eat.  The pork tenderloin was really good and was nice and tender, one thing I did notice was that breading on the loin was a lot thicker than on the cutlet.  One thing that I did notice about both of the types of the pork was the fact they weren’t juicy at all, it kind of left be disappointed.

Saboten was an OK meal and there Tonkatsu was alright for a fast food place but I was still hungry after eating my meal and the fact my pork was on the dry side would not make me come back.  The service that I experienced was friendly, one thing to note is that they are cash only if your interested in giving them a try.