Pangyo tonkatsu with a baby: mozzarella cheese katsu at Katsu Shokudo

Katsu Shokudo Pangyo Main Branch: a tonkatsu restaurant on the way to Pangyo Hyundai Department Store

I visit Pangyo Hyundai Department Store every weekend, and since I usually park at the nearby Alphadom Tower, I always passed by Katsu Shokudo on the way and wondered about it. Last weekend, on the way to the department store with my mom and my baby Ttorong, curiosity got the better of me and we finally stopped for tonkatsu.

We got there a bit earlier than the usual weekend lunch rush, so the place was fairly quiet. But by the time we were finishing our meal, several parties had come in one after another, and by the time we paid and left, the place was almost fully booked. That's the power of a Pangyo Hyundai famous restaurant, I guess.

What is Katsu Shokudo Pangyo like with a 9-month-old baby?

Ttorong-man is still a 9-month-old baby who can't eat tonkatsu yet, but he seemed satisfied just being at a tonkatsu restaurant and waited quietly like a champ haha. Thanks to him, we got to actually enjoy our meal.

I ordered the mozzarella cheese katsu set, and my mom got the kimchi katsu nabe. There's a set menu option, so choosing wasn't hard at all.

This Pangyo Hyundai famous restaurant, Katsu Shokudo, has hair ties, dental floss, wet wipes, and various other guest amenities set up at every table, which made things really convenient. Ttorong-man was eating a rice cracker snack and left some behind, and I was able to tie the bag shut with the string on the table — genius!!!

While waiting for the food, my mom and I took the obligatory photos, and I played with Ttorong-man using his tulip sound book. What is it about tulip sound books that pre-toddler babies love so much? Is there some kind of collective spell cast on babies for these things?

How do the mozzarella cheese katsu set and kimchi katsu nabe taste?

My mozzarella cheese katsu set arrived. The set comes with soba, and I had been craving cold soba (naengsoba) so, so, so badly for days already!

This is the kimchi katsu nabe my mom ordered! It's a dish where Katsu Shokudo's own thick, signature tonkatsu is placed over a bubbling hot ttukbaegi (earthenware pot) base somewhere between kimchi jjigae (stew) and kimchi guk (soup).

As for my mozzarella cheese katsu — I honestly have no words... Even just from the photo, you could nod along and know how good it looks. The mozzarella cheese is packed in thick, so when you bite in, there's that cheese-pull stretch — absolute perfection!! ><

The cold soba that comes with the set

This was the cold soba included with the set, and it didn't taste like the usual store-bought soba sauce — it felt like they make the broth in-house. Deep, clean flavor? Plus it had bits of ice floating in it, which made it every bit as good as a dedicated soba specialty shop. Exactly what you need when parenting stress hits!!

This is the kimchi katsu nabe my mom ordered, and the broth was way more refreshing and spicy than I expected — total surprise!

It wasn't too sweet, just spicy and clean-tasting broth, which would be perfect even for older palates. Word has it my mom finished it down to the last spoonful, fully satisfied ^ㅅ^

The mozzarella cheese tonkatsu was really thick and packed with cheese, so every bite was a burst of pure happiness!!! These days there are lots of Japanese-style tonkatsu places, but frying it properly crispy, without any off smell, thick, and still juicy inside isn't easy — and I think this Pangyo Hyundai famous restaurant, Katsu Shokudo, has actually pulled it off.

The soba and the kimchi katsu nabe broth were also both specialty-shop level or better. It was memorable enough that I want to go back just for the soba alone next time.

Receipt review lucky draw at Katsu Shokudo Pangyo

If you write a receipt review after your meal, you can do this lucky draw. There are no losing tickets, with prizes set from 1st to 5th place — so what did we win?!!??!

Drumroll~ (spoiler: not 5th place!! Results are in the video haha)

Thanks to another great meal today ♥ Katsu Shokudo Pangyo Main Branch, 152 Pangyoyeok-ro, Alphadom Tower 3, B1 Unit 9, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, South Korea. Pangyo Hyundai famous restaurant Katsu Shokudo Pangyo Main Branch! Definitely going back next time!