“It was hard for them to find somewhere nice and authentic, so they created these spaces for people to enjoy,” says Shaun Oh of his bosses, husband and wife team Hansson Shen and Lulu Gao. You may be familiar with their other Japanese-inspired Glen Waverley eatery, Marble Yakiniku, where Wagyu is central to their BBQ theme. 

At Ichi Katsu, their new offering which opened its doors in mid-March, their love of Japanese food and culture is central to this new venue, from walls adorned with Totoro the popular anime character, to the casual menu with katsu at its core. 

Oh says that the look and feel for the venue is very much an izakaya style “in that it’s a very cosy and friendly space with an open kitchen as well as a kitchen bar surrounding, which customers can dine on.”

For the uninitiated, katsu is a panko crumbed fried cutlet, often pork, but can also be other meats, seafood such as prawn (ebi) or vegetables. It’s ubiquitous in Japan from 7-Eleven corner stores to high end restaurants and everywhere in between, served as a sando betwixt precisely cut soft white bread, on rice or in broth; served with a dark, rich and unctuous vegetable-based ketchup. While it feels quintessentially Japanese its origin is said to be a Tokyo based restaurant in the late nineteenth century that wanted to create a European cutlet for their menu. 

Oh says that while they’ve devised a wide menu at Ichi Katsu, their signature is the likes of the kurobuta ro-su-katsu a deep fried pork loin. “Kurobuta is a Japanese term for the Berkshire pork, or black pig,” says Oh. “It’s actually famous for its richness in terms of flavour, texture and the tenderness of the pork itself, and its overall depth in flavour.” 

While they initially investigated using imported Japanese Kurobuta pork, practicality, and price, as well as the fact that they could source good quality Kurobuta style pork locally meant they went a more local route. Kurobuta gets it richness and its maximum marbling from the feeding regime of the livestock, very much like Wagyu. 

Yakisoba, “Japanese style fried noodles” has proved popular says Oh. A signature that they’re looking forward to is the kushiyaki offering, or Japanese charcoal grilled skewers. It’s currently off the menu Oh tells me, due to COVID pressures, but they’re excited to get it back on, serving  grilled proteins like pork belly, chicken thigh, chicken wings, and their M9 Wagyu beef. 

Oh is also enthusiastic about omurice, a staple of many Japanese home cooks. He describes their version as “dashi rice topped with a half-cooked omelette, and with a demi-glace.” Globally it’s a dish that has had a lot of love on TikTok over the past few years says Oh. It’s inclusion on the menu perhaps as much a hope of a social bump as it, becoming a firm favourite.

Ichi Katsu
97 Kingsway, Glen Waverley, Melbourne
Tue – Sun 11:30am – 2:30pm and 5pm – 10pm
ichikatsu.com.au

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