Euljiro tonkatsu lunch: black pork neck katsudon, 2 add-ons, Hunta

Where is Hunta Euljiro and when is it open?

Hunta Euljiro is a tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) restaurant on the ground floor of the Fast Five building, less than a 5-minute walk from exits 1 and 2 of Euljiro-ipgu Station. It is open on weekdays only and closed on both Saturday and Sunday. I went because it was called a great lunch spot near Euljiro-ipgu Station.

Once you walk into the ground floor, you can see Hunta right by the information desk.

It must be popular at lunchtime, because this Euljiro tonkatsu spot even has a waiting system. Again, it only opens on weekdays and is closed on both Saturday and Sunday.

Hunta Euljiro atmosphere and seating: is it good for solo dining?

Hunta Euljiro has seats for 1–2 people and tables for 3–4, so eating alone is comfortable. I visited around 1pm, and the restaurant feels super clean, modern and stylish. Light pours in through the big windows, which made it bright and lovely, and the air conditioning was blasting, so it was cool and pleasant even in summer.

A tonkatsu place near Euljiro-ipgu Station with seats for 1–2 and tables for 3–4, and solo dining is fine. There also seem to be a few events for office workers nearby?

What is on the Hunta Euljiro menu?

Hunta Euljiro uses premium black pork, and you can taste reaaally delicious premium tonkatsu here. It was seriously good.

There was a kimchi stew set on the menu, but it was sold out when I visited.

There's a good variety of katsu: mixed, loin (ros), fillet (hire) and chicken thigh, plus rice bowls. Fillet, chicken thigh and cheese katsu can also be added on.

They have soft drinks and bottled beer too.

What side dishes come with the meal, and are refills free?

When you order a meal at Hunta Euljiro, it arrives neatly set out as a full set on a square tray with soup, cabbage salad, kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and green onion kimchi, and the sides can be refilled. The sides were tasty, which I loved.

The clear soup was so refreshing. It had radish, mushrooms, meat and so on, and it tasted great and clean, a bit like beef radish soup, and I enjoyed it a lot. The cabbage salad topped with corn dressing was insanely good too.

The kkakdugi was good too, and unusually there's green onion kimchi, which was absolutely superb.

The seasonings are tonkatsu sauce, salt and wasabi. Maybe because the katsu quality is so good, salt with wasabi goes best.

Solo lunch order: pork neck tare katsudon with fillet and chicken katsu add-ons

For my solo lunch at Hunta Euljiro, I ordered the katarosu (pork neck) tare katsudon (₩23,000) with a chicken thigh katsu add-on (₩4,000) and a fillet katsu add-on (₩4,000). Along with the limited-quantity black pork katarosu tare katsudon, I added one piece each of the fillet and chicken katsu I'd been curious about, and it was seriously delicious and satisfying.

Hire (fillet) katsu: is the pink center undercooked?

The fillet katsu at Hunta Euljiro comes out cooked with a very pink center. Premium katsu has become fairly mainstream by now, so I know this isn't undercooked but just the color of myoglobin. (There's no taste of blood at all.)

It looks super moist and juicy, and it really is ultimate-level tender. The light-colored batter outside is crisp yet soft, while the fillet inside is incredibly tender. It has a moderate meaty aroma and is just really good. You really feel that ultimate tenderness and juiciness. Great dipped in tonkatsu sauce, great dipped in salt.

I enjoyed it a lot.

How was the chicken thigh katsu add-on?

The chicken katsu at Hunta Euljiro is chicken thigh katsu, and for the ₩4,000 add-on you get quite a few pieces. The batter is crisper than on the fillet, and the inside is moist and juicy. Crunchy batter, and chicken thigh is always good, but this really is good. A little greasy in a good way. It feels different from fried chicken.

The sauce that came with it was amazing too, so I ate happily.

How does the black pork katarosu (pork neck) tare katsudon taste?

The main dish, the katarosu tare katsudon, is a limited-quantity black pork neck katsu rice bowl. The thick pork neck isn't dry at all; it's very chewy, tender and rich. They seem to use a top-grade cut, and considering what grilled pork neck costs these days, I understand why this menu item is pricey.

Tender, chewy black pork neck katsu with a faint pink color.

The batter was good here too, and this is what the cross-section looks like. I like thick-cut top loin and premium loin katsu, and this feels similar: it has some fat, the meat is chewy, and it tastes great.

Specifically, the meat is really chewy. It isn't dry at all and is very chewy without being tough, and it's also quite tender, so the texture is very appealing. It has the aroma of black pork, not any off-smell, which is very attractive.

It's great with tonkatsu sauce, but salt with wasabi was the best. It just disappears into your mouth.

Katsudon rice, egg and a tip to add black pepper

Since it's a rice bowl, egg and rice lie under the katsu. The rice seemed to be cooked perfectly fluffy and tasted wonderful, and the egg omelet is soft and drizzled with tare sauce, so you get a nicely sweet-salty sauce flavor. Yummy, haha.

You can put the katsu on top of the rice and eat it that way. A staff member also recommended sprinkling pepper because black pork can have a strong aroma, and pepper does add its own charm. Honestly, though, the taste was already good enough for me that I didn't really need pepper to cover anything.

You can get extra rice too, so I cleaned my bowl completely. A great lunch spot near Euljiro-ipgu Station.

Is the service at Hunta Euljiro friendly?

The staff at Hunta Euljiro are very, very kind. Truly kind.

Is there parking at Hunta Euljiro?

You can use the underground parking lot of the Fast Five building where Hunta Euljiro is located, but there's no parking fee support. Parking costs ₩6,000 per hour. Hunta Euljiro is less than a 5-minute walk from exits 1 and 2 of Euljiro-ipgu Station, so public transport is convenient.