Katsu-Hama is a no-frills Japanese comfort food restaurant specializing in deep-fried pork-cutlet (“Katsu”). They offer other traditional comfort food, like donburi and ramen.
We went to the 55th street location for early dinner. It is on second floor, looking over the street below. It is quite small, so it can get filled up quickly. They also have counter seats as well as small and larger size tables. Most of the staff here are not Japanese, which is not surprising, but what is surprising is that they manage to create these authentic Japanese food. Good recipe and training will get you a great dish from chefs of any nationality. 🙂
We ordered Washu Gyu Don, Chicken Katsu, and Kurobuta Katsu Don. Washu Gyu Don (Medium: $12) is a bowl of rice topped with Japanese premium beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet soy sauce. Comes with miso soup, daily appetizer (it was eggplant with salad), and pickles. They offer this in medium and large size, this is the medium size, and it was very filling. If you are super hungry, then you can try the large portion, but otherwise, medium is just right. The beef was soft and juicy, very tasty and contains much of that flavor from the sauce. It is one of the basic awesome comfort food!
Chicken Katsu ($16) is a little twist from traditional pork katsu. It is breaded chicken cutlet with rice, miso soup, and pickles. Huge portion of chicken and shredded cabbage (they give you more cabbage for free if you want). It was very crunchy on the outside and juicy in the inside, which is of course katsu done right! It was not oily, chicken was soft and not at all dry. They also have the special katsu sauce on the table, but the katsu is very tasty on its own so that you don’t have to have the sauce if you prefer not too. It was super yummy!
Kurobuta Katsu Don ($18) is a breaded pork cutlet mixed with egg and onion over rice. Comes with miso soup and pickles. Really big portion, very filling. Another one of old fashion Japanese comfort food that warms you up from inside and out. The cutlet was again cooked right, crunchy outside and juicy inside, with lots of flavor. It is such a great dish when you want an authentic Japanese food to relax you with your family and friends.
We ended our meal with Green Tea Ice Cream. It was nice, good solid green tea ice cream without some crazy food coloring or freeze burn, pretty satisfied with their quality!
Katsu Hama specializes in Katsu, so I do recommend you to order one of the katsu items, but if you want to venture out to other dishes, I say go for it!
Katsu Hama – 43 W 55th St. 2nd Floor New York, NY 10019