Saturday lunch tonkatsu split in Jeonpo, Busan: Hets Jeonpo Branch

I'm a tonkatsu lover, foodie J here! Last weekend my friend and I went out to Seomyeon~ I finally visited Hets, famous as a tonkatsu spot in Seomyeon and Jeonpo, haha.

Thin, crispy breading with tender meat inside — let me give you my honest review of Hets, a Jeonpo tonkatsu favorite! 🤎

Where is Hets Jeonpo Branch, and how long is the wait?

Hets Jeonpo Branch is a Japanese-style tonkatsu restaurant a 3-minute walk from Jeonpo Station Exit 7. We registered on CatchTable around 12:30pm on a Saturday, waited about 10 minutes, and got seated right away.

A real hotspot is different, haha 😆 People were waiting even when we arrived! You register through CatchTable and wait — there are waiting seats set up both outside and inside the restaurant~

Inside Hets Jeonpo Branch: U-shaped bar counter and solo dining

Hets Jeonpo Branch has U-shaped bar seating, haha. It's an open kitchen, so it's kept clean, and the staff were quick and friendly~

I took a photo after we finished eating too, and customers kept coming in nonstop, haha. Bar seating like this also looked great for solo dining~

Haha, this was my seat >< There's a menu at every seat.

Menu and pork cuts at Hets Jeonpo Branch

The menu even shows how to eat it deliciously! From katsu to sando (sandwiches) to side dishes, there's a wide range, and ✔️ Hets says they process YBD pork and Jeju black pork in-house!

Inside, the restrooms are separated by gender, and amenities like a high chair, aprons, and coat hooks are all well set up, haha.

In the middle there's a hip goods corner and a guestbook space too~ You can feel the owner's tasteful sense in this space, haha. I've never seen a tonkatsu place like this before~ 😆

What we ordered and how the table is set

• YBD sang loin katsu
• YBD hire katsu

Each table comes set with pepper, salad dressing, truffle oil, and wasabi! The salad dressing was seriously so good,,, that corn dressing... so good,,! 🌽💛

There was a cute little note stuck on too, worth checking out! You could feel how much they think of their customers~ I love these little touches 🥹 So kind, so kind,, 💕

This poster on the wall is it!! ✔️ For police officers, national merit recipients, soldiers, firefighters, high school seniors taking the college entrance exam, and pregnant customers, they offer one free item from meat curry, boneless gara-age, or a drink :) I love this kind of event so much 👏🏻

When you order, they bring rice, jang-guk (savory soup), kkakdugi (radish kimchi), and sauces along with it, haha. But seriously, the rice was so good too,,, not too firm and not too soft, just perfectly cooked ㅜㅜ The soup had a rich, deep flavor too, so I finished all of it!!

Haha, yay 🤭 the loin katsu and hire katsu finally arrived >< Even in the raw photo, doesn't it just look fresh and insanely delicious,,?

I was curious about both loin and hire, so we ordered one each and split them three pieces per person with my friend, haha.

YBD sang loin katsu: lean-to-fat ratio with no greasiness

The sang loin katsu at Hets Jeonpo Branch had exactly the right ratio of lean meat to fat,, 😭

It looked moist at a glance and the fat portion wasn't excessive, so my expectations went up! Loin katsu can sometimes be greasy, but this was seriously zero percent greasy ㅠㅠㅠ

The lean meat part wasn't tough at all either, completely tender,,, it melts in your mouth 🥹💕

It's tasty plain, tasty dipped in sauce, and tasty with the salad too — no matter what, it all went well together, haha.

Cabbage salad with corn dressing, refill included

Like I said before,, this cabbage salad is really, really good 💛 The dressing is the real kicker!! It's a corn dressing 🌽 and I want to know the recipe,,, it was so good I asked for a refill, and they gave it to me in a rice bowl haha,,!

YBD hire katsu: the best tenderloin cutlet in Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam

I had huge expectations for the hire katsu! 🥹 Before visiting Hets, I looked up reviews, and everyone unanimously praised this menu item! The moment I saw it, I immediately understood why people recommended it, haha.

You can see the moist juices, right ㅠㅠㅠ The meat looks totally tender,, 🥹 It already passed the test just by looking at it, haha.

It really was tender in person too,,, the best hire katsu I've had in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam area,, 🥹 My favorite hire katsu is normally from Tonshow, and this was that good too^^ ✔️ In my opinion as a foodie, this is as good as Tonshow! 👏🏻

The staff were nearby too so service was quick and pleasant~ And if you want, they'll give you silbi kimchi too! My friend loves silbi kimchi so I asked right away, and it was so good!! 🌶️ haha

Haha, dishes all cleaned today too,, I'm curious about the other menu items so I saved the place and plan to come back again!

Highly, sincerely recommend it!!!! Haha. As we paid and left, they gave us a coupon and candy too 🍬💕 Anyone want to go fill up the coupon together,,? Haha

Is Hets Jeonpo Branch worth a visit?

• Jeonpo/Seomyeon tonkatsu favorite
• Uses Jeju black pork and YBD pork
• Recommended for solo dining, dates, and groups
• CatchTable available, waiting seats provided
• As good as Tonshow, 100% would revisit