Saboten Tonkatsu さぼてん

Website:  http://www.ghf.co.jp/saboten_rest/menu.html

Location:  There’s one in the basement of S-Pal in Sendai Station but I usually go to the one on the third floor of The Mall above Nagamachi-minami Subway Station.  This is a chain restaurant and they are located throughout the country.

Map:  Click the "Location" link at the bottom.

The Mall hours:  11 am – 9:30 pm.

S-Pal hours: 10 am – 10 pm.

A familiar front-runner that I've formerly failed to feature.  Some days are better than others, but you really can’t go wrong here.   Sure they’re known for their tonkatsu, but their ebi-fry and kaki-fry also seem to please.  

巻き重ね御膳

And with unlimited free refills of rice, cabbage, and miso soup, this place is ideal for the big eater!

But, I’m not a big eater, just a picky one.  Yet Saboten never fails to satisfy this picky eater.

And Saboten’s take-out bentos are also great!  I often get these from The Mall in Nagamachi-minami.  The only thing I don’t like about the bentos is the nori furikake, but Saboten is quite happy to accommodate my special “nuki” request.

For take out, I usually order the 三元豚ロースかつ定食,but at the restaurant I usually just go for the regular ロースかつ定食. With the set meal, everything is good:  the tonkatsu, tsukemono, rice, salad dressing, and miso soup.  I especially like the fresh sesame seeds in a bowl that you crush to your own textural desires, which you then pour the tonkatsu sauce into.  Recently, I’ve noticed at The Mall that they have become quite frugal in the amount of sesame seeds that they serve; you can almost count them.  Still, the aroma of freshly ground sesame seeds adds a certain “je ne sais quoi” to the meal.

ロースかつ定食

Occasionally, they will offer a layered tonkatsu called something like 重ねるとんかつ that comes with a ponzu sauce and is really delicious!  Unfortunately this is only seasonal and I’m not sure what season it appears.

How many sesame seeds are there?  One, two, ....

I’m also pleased with Saboten’s generous stamp card system.   It seems that I accumulate enough stamps to get a 500 円 discount quite easily.  Instead of the discount, you can opt for a take-out tonkatsu, but who wants to take home a hunk of tonkatsu right after they’ve just finished eating tonkatsu?

Tonkatsu Sugi とんかつ杉 022-283-1968

Website: http://www.senmax.net/sugi/              

Address:   仙台市若林区志波町18-16.  Near a ヨークベニマル supermarket.

Map:  Scroll to the bottom.

Lunch: 11:30 – 2:00 Dinner: 5:00 – 8:00

Closed holidays and Wednesdays.

I’ve passed by this restaurant a couple of times on the weekend and always saw people lining up outside.  I figured that was a good sign that it was a great restaurant.  

I walked in on a Friday evening and it was quite busy.  I was seated at the counter in front of the kitchen.  I was surprised that the menu consisted of only eight different offerings.  I went with the regularとんかつ定食 for 840 円. The set meal came with the usual: rice, cabbage salad, tsukemono (or so I thought), and miso soup.

The tonkatsu was very tender and tasty, probably the tenderest tonkatsu I’ve tasted, with no chunks of fat.  I believe that the reason for this succulent sow was that each piece of pork and shrimp were breaded at the time of the order.  They were not pre-made nor frozen.  I saw first-hand as a new order was placed and the chef would take out his tray of bread crumbs and place each individual pork cutlet (or shrimp) in the tray before plunking it in the deep fryer.  And the portion size was just right.  Not overly generous but I feel I got my money’s worth.

とんかつ定食

The sauce was just right!  Not too sweet nor too tangy, and not overwhelming.  

They served a lot of cabbage, in fact, too much.  That wouldn’t have been a problem but the salad dressing was similar to plain mayonnaise and had very little taste.  Because of that I left most of my cabbage behind.  The macaroni salad was just so-so, and the tsukemono was actually just raw carrot slices.  The miso soup was quite nice.  

I noticed that this is not a place where one lingers.  People were off as soon as they finished eating.  

This is a non-smoking environment and it seemed to seat about 25 people or so.  Free parking for about eight cars is way in the back, but be careful because the side street closest to 杉 is a one-way street moving away from the restaurant.

I have to be honest, though, I don’t know if I’ll be returning to 杉.    I’m recommending this restaurant because I did like the tonkatsu itself, but I was not wow’ed.  Because of the long lines of people I had witnessed, I thought I would be wow’ed.  But I wasn’t.  Perhaps you’ll be wow’ed.  At the very least, you’ll be like me, and just simply satisfied.

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