Mama Tonkatsu: Classic Local Spot near Korea University
Working from home for the first time since starting my corporate job, I grabbed lunch near my house. As I've mentioned before, the Korea University area isn't like other college towns where you can just turn your head and find a great restaurant. Since most places cater to students, many compete by offering cheap prices and large portions. Because of this, there are quite a few tonkatsu (pork cutlet) places that fit this category. While there are some pretty decent spots among them, today I'm introducing a classic neighborhood joint that gives off the vibe of a long-standing business in a spot where it seems like no one would ever visit.
Run by a single older lady, Mama Tonkatsu doesn't sell pre-made cutlets; it's a place where she minces the meat herself. Sometimes, when I head home past 9 PM, I can easily spot her alone, pounding the meat and preparing the tonkatsu filling. She runs the business out of a converted house, and as soon as you walk in, you're hit with that distinct smell of an old home. It's a slightly musty scent, which isn't exactly the most pleasant.
Just as I was about to feel a bit disappointed by the musty smell, looking at the menu made me accept everything and place an order. As expected from a local tonkatsu spot, the prices are cheap. If you look closely, you can see they were updated with stickers. Personally, I feel like the prices here rise much slower compared to general inflation.
Since the heatwave just won't end lately, I chose soba (buckwheat noodles) instead of my favorite udon. Therefore, today's lunch was the "Tonkatsu Set with Soba."
I called it a great restaurant, but it's not the kind of place that deserves modifiers like "the best in Seoul" or "one of the top in the country." Still, it definitely qualifies as a "good tonkatsu place for lunch." First of all, the main dish, the tonkatsu, is quite delicious. The other items feel more like assembled food rather than proper cooking, but the tonkatsu itself is on a whole different level from the overcooked, pancake-like cutlets you get at other places for the same price. At this level of quality, there's no difference between this and places that charge close to 10,000 KRW. As for the soba, I went late, and since it's clearly not a place with high turnover, the noodles were swollen like rice cakes. However, the udon is exactly the kind you'd find at a highway rest stop, so if you have a taste for cheap eats, you'll enjoy it. Therefore, I recommend choosing udon with the tonkatsu set.
This place's main target audience is Korea University students or people attending the Seoul National University College of Education right across the street. Perhaps because of this, the owner closes up and rests between 3 and 5 PM, and she doesn't open on Saturdays or Sundays. It seems like she's shifted from trying to make a lot of money to just maintaining the shop and selling at a more leisurely pace. Anyway, even though it's a neighborhood restaurant, you need to check the hours carefully before visiting.