まさぼ~
At the beginning of last month, a cafe opened right in front of Ashiro Park. I had been wanting to visit someday but kept putting it off. Finally, I decided to check it out. There's a blackboard near the entrance of the cafe with the menu written on it, but it's not very clear what kind of menu they have. It seems like they offer tonkatsu set during lunchtime, but the rest of the menu is unclear. So, I hesitated to enter the cafe for a while. On this day, I was in the mood for tonkatsu. I entered the cafe with that in mind.
Around 11:10, I entered the cafe and there was one customer already there. I sat at an available table. The interior of the cafe is mainly tables, but there are also counter seats and sofa seats. It's a simple setup inside. I looked at the menu on the table, and there weren't many food options. Maybe they plan to gradually expand the menu?
I decided to go for the tonkatsu as planned. I ordered the premium tonkatsu set with Hananoki pork for 1480 yen. It seemed like it came with coffee or tea after the meal, so I asked for iced tea. After a while, a plate of pesticide-free vegetable bagna cauda was brought to me. It was a lot of vegetables even before eating the tonkatsu ( ̄▽ ̄;) Cucumber, cherry tomatoes, burdock, water eggplant, potatoes, bell peppers, okra, baby corn, and more. I dipped them in a buttery sweet sauce, and all the vegetables were delicious. I was especially surprised by how tasty the cherry tomatoes and baby corn were.
As I was enjoying the vegetables, rice, soup, and pickles were served. The soup seemed to be made only with vegetables and was a bit bland. The staff explained that if I found it lacking in flavor, I could add some rock salt from the table. Soon after, the main tonkatsu arrived \(^o^)/ It was a 200g portion, quite a generous serving. Ready to dig in, but where's the sauce? I asked one of the staff, and they said the meat was already seasoned, so it was meant to be eaten as is.
I tried it, and the meat was gently seasoned with salt. The meat was reasonably tender, and the taste was okay. The coating was soft and moist. Feeling like it needed a bit more flavor, I sprinkled some rock salt from the table. I tried the soup, which had a rich vegetable taste. It contained green beans, potatoes, burdock, and more, showcasing the flavors of the vegetables. I adjusted the taste to my liking by adding a bit of rock salt.
The rice was average, and I enjoyed the iced tea without adding milk or syrup. I wished there was tonkatsu sauce to go with the tonkatsu, as I'm not used to eating it with just salt. Overall, it was a decent meal. Thank you for the meal♪