Busan tonkatsu with chicken sashimi katsu: Hets Jeonpo

A visit to newly opened Hets in Jeonpo

Busan has quite a few famous tonkatsu (Japanese-style pork cutlet) spots. Hets is one of the well-known ones in Gwangalli. It had been a while since I’d had tonkatsu, and I heard a new one had opened in Jeonpo too, so I went to check it out!

• Address: 225 Jeonpo-daero, 2F, Unit 201, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea (부산 부산진구 전포대로 225 2층 201호)
• Hours: Daily 11:10–20:30
• Break time: 15:30–17:00
• Last order: 15:00, 20:00
• There may be a wait
• Catchtable on-site waiting starts at 10:30 a.m.; online waiting starts at 11:10 a.m.
• No parking lot / ₩1,000 support for parking at a nearby public parking lot
• Dongbaekjeon accepted!!

Even though it was the weekend, I visited after the dinner rush, so there was no wait and I got seated right away! Maybe because it only opened recently, the restaurant was clean, and the interior is similar to Hets in Gwangalli. Still, there are a few differences from Gwangalli.

A spacious waiting and luggage-storage area at the Jeonpo branch

The Jeonpo branch is larger than the Gwangalli one, so it has a space indoors where you can wait, as well as room to store coats and luggage. You can even store suitcases, which seems useful for people traveling around Jeonpo or Seomyeon.

Even after the dinner rush, there were lots of customers inside.

And one interesting thing: it’s a tonkatsu restaurant, but they also sell merch. There are T-shirts and pens, plus books that appear to be about business. Merch at a tonkatsu restaurant—interesting..

They also offer one of a drink, meat curry, or karaage (Japanese fried chicken) to police officers, national merit recipients, military personnel, firefighters, exam takers, and pregnant customers. Between the luggage storage and things like this, it felt like they put quite a bit of thoughtful care into their customers.

Limited premium loin cutlets were sold out in the evening

Sadly, perhaps because it was evening, the limited Jeju black pork premium loin katsu and YBD premium loin katsu were sold out, as was the black pork loin katsu.. The only choices left were YBD hire katsu and loin katsu, so I ordered one of each. Plus one piece of sashimi katsu (chicken breast).

Everything from the water and cutlery to the napkins and sauces was neatly arranged.

How the sashimi katsu and YBD cutlets tasted

The dishes arrived: in order, loin katsu, hire katsu, and sashimi katsu.

Sashimi katsu, my first time trying it

First up was the sashimi katsu. I’d only ever seen it in videos and was curious, so I tried it first. The second I took a bite, I could feel the grain of the chicken!! It wasn’t dry at all—just really moist and tender. Even when you order one piece, it comes sliced like that, so it’s easy to share too. I definitely recommend trying it. So delicious.

Rich and nutty YBD loin katsu

The YBD loin katsu had both lean meat and fat attached, and the fat at the top was especially rich and tasty. It was good on its own, but really delicious with salt and wasabi. Such a good combination..

Light yet juicy YBD hire katsu

Unlike the loin katsu, the YBD hire katsu had almost no fat, so it felt light overall. I thought it might be dry without fat, but not at all—one bite and it was incredibly juicy. The outside was crisp while the inside was moist, so you could really feel the contrast in texture.

Hets also has truffle oil, and drizzling it over the tonkatsu brings out the truffle aroma and intensifies the flavor. Since it is oil, though, it could feel a little rich if you use too much.

Personally, I liked the hire katsu more than the loin katsu. It was extremely juicy, never got heavy even as I kept eating, and felt great with different condiments like wasabi and salt.

Next time, I want to try the premium loin katsu

I left Hets Jeonpo after a seriously delicious meal. Now that I’ve tried it myself, I understand why it’s known as a great tonkatsu spot. The juicy hire katsu especially, along with the sashimi katsu that I tried for the first time and loved, really stayed with me. Next time, I want to visit earlier and try the premium loin cuts. When getting all the way to Gwangalli feels difficult, have some delicious tonkatsu at Hets, a great Jeonpo tonkatsu spot.