Weekday dinner pork cutlet comparison in Hwaseong: Kkot Gatsu Dongtan

Hi everyone, it's Jipsuni here 🤍

I stumbled onto a Japanese-style tonkatsu spot in Mokdong, Dongtan this time…🫢 Went in without much expectation and left completely satisfied! Here's my review of Kkot Gatsu.🤍

Basic info and location of Kkot Gatsu

⏰ Mon-Sun 11:00 ~ 21:00 Break time is 15:00-17:00, and last order is 20:30!

📍 Location: 33 Wangbaesan 3-gil, Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor It's right in the middle of the Mokdong commercial strip in Dongtan, so it's easy to get to. We actually walked over from home as a little stroll before dinner haha

What about parking and waiting?

There were chairs set up beside the entrance for waiting. Roadside parking is available out front, but there aren't many spots ㅠ There's a nearby Mokdong public parking lot too.

It's free for up to 1.5 hours, so if you're just here to eat, free parking is totally doable-!👍🏻

The weekday 7pm vibe inside

I visited around 7pm on a weekday. There were already lots of people eating! Dads with kids, couples, families — plenty of tables with babies too. And quite a few solo diners! We sat down and the place filled up completely within minutes.😮

The space had a cozy vibe with wood tones and yellow lighting. The tables, self-bar, and seating area were all kept spotlessly clean.✨ The staff were friendly too, moving quickly and efficiently.☺️

The place was completely packed. If we'd come a little later we probably would've had to wait! On weekends there's definitely going to be a line.

The basic table setup comes with paper cups and tissues like this.

You can grab extras from the self-bar. Beyond the standard side dishes, there was more to add — there was tzuran, pickled mountain peppers, and a container of red radish strips too.

Kkot Gatsu's menu lineup

They say Kkot Gatsu uses top-grade Korean pork. Knowing it's real handmade tonkatsu made me even more excited to try it.

There are single cutlet menu items and...

There's also a cutlet platter where you can try several kinds at once, plus set meals paired with udon!

The single menu items looked solid too! Hwa-udon is a spicy udon, and Su-udon is a tsuyu-based udon. Tables with little kids were ordering the small curry a lot. I'll have to try it next time haha🤭 And it's a nice touch that you can order Only Cutlet if you just want more cutlet without the sides-!

Kkot Gatsu (tenderloin cutlet) and special loin cutlet, one-person set meals

Our order arrived — the Kkot Gatsu (tenderloin cutlet) and the special loin cutlet. They come out as individual set meals like this. My first reaction was just wow at how good the cutlets looked.

Got an overhead shot 📸 That bright pink color with the glossy sheen — looks delicious just from the photo, right??😋

The portion of Kkot Gatsu (tenderloin cutlet) is really generous!! I took one bite and wow… no gamey smell at all. It was so soft, the textbook definition of crispy-outside-juicy-inside.🫢 The juices were so moist that, without much exaggeration, it really did feel like it melted in my mouth.

What comes with the set meal

Let me pull myself together and walk you through the full set: cabbage salad topped with a tasty dressing, rice and soup, sauce and pickled radish, plus lemon salt / truffle salt / wasabi!

How was the special loin cutlet?

Now let me show you the special loin cutlet up close. It has a bit more of that meaty texture, but it was incredibly tender too.

You know how the fatty part of loin cutlet is especially delicious, right?🤭 The fat spreads out and brings up this rich, savory flavor.

If I had to pick one

If I had to choose between the two, I'm picking the Kkot Gatsu! Soft yet moist and light — such a satisfying flavor. I ate it plain with just salt, and also with wasabi and a generous dip of sauce alongside rice haha

I grabbed some wasabi and radish strips from the self-bar, and oh, these radish strips were really good. They pair well with Japanese-style cutlets?! Right when it starts to feel a bit greasy, a bite of these cuts right through it and resets your palate haha🤭

Worth going back?

Left full and satisfied, patting my belly happily on the way out haha. If you're looking for Japanese-style katsu around Mokdong in Dongtan, I'd recommend Kkot Gatsu!

Seeing how packed it was even on a weekday evening, it's clearly already gotten popular🤭 Whenever we're craving tonkatsu, we're definitely heading back to Kkot Gatsu!😋👍🏻