Amsa-dong tonkatsu restaurant with 8 bar seats for solo lunch: Tonka

So today I went here...

I don't come to the Gangdong-gu area much, but on my way to hang out in Namyangju, I was craving sasami katsu (chicken breast cutlet) and started searching for it.......... and found a tonkatsu place that looked delicious at a glance!!!! I ran straight over.

Oh, parking is available right in front of the shop. Haha.

How long is the weekday lunch wait at Tonka in Amsa-dong?

I went to Tonka in Amsa-dong on a weekday lunch and had to wait because it's so popular. Just a short ~10 minutes?? It's a clean and cozy little store.

If it's a good restaurant, I just accept the wait as a given. Take it in stride. There's a waitlist sign-up spot near the entrance, so don't forget to write your name down!!

Tonka's 8 bar-table seats: easy for solo diners

Entering!! Tonka has 8 seats total, all bar-table seating haha. Looks like the owner runs the place all alone!!

The store is small but has everything it needs. The spacing between seats is generous too, so you can eat comfortably!!

Tonka's three menus: what makes the special loin katsu different?

You scan the QR code at your seat to self-order, but wait, what is this menu? Is this for real? Haven't seen such a simple menu in a while, especially in 2026.

Also, unusually, they don't sell tenderloin and loin separately here — instead

• Tonkatsu (loin + tenderloin)
• Special loin katsu (special loin + tenderloin)
• Sasami katsu (chicken breast)

That's how the menu is set up!! Really great for solo dining, I think.

I asked what's different about the special vs. the basic, and they said it's a different cut — more toward the shoulder/neck area, I think?!! I figured it'd taste better, so I ordered the special.

The perk of bar seating: you get to watch your food being prepared and build up anticipation bit by bit haha. I waited there, practically drooling.....

Special loin katsu: 5 pieces of loin plus 2 of tenderloin

Ta-da. Here it is. Tonka's special loin katsu comes with 5 pieces of loin and 2 pieces of tenderloin. So good, so good, so good

Ugh, it came out so nicely. Looks pretty delicious, right? It was delicious. As you can see in the photo, the loin has clearly separated layers of fat, and both the lean part and the fatty part were tasty.........

The breading is crispy in just the right way!! (Not flaky-crumbly, but truly crispy — the essential taste of good frying...) The tenderloin is so, so soft.... but still has a nice bite to it, great great. Very satisfied. If they let you add extra tenderloin, this is the kind of taste you'd order seconds of.

Sasami katsu in 6 pieces, cabbage salad with sesame dressing

Since I stole a few pieces from my friend haha, let me start my sasami katsu (chicken breast cutlet) tasting. It looked so pale and delicious, I loved it. There were 2 more pieces stacked underneath, so it comes to 6 pieces total, and the portion is generous haha.

Oh, the cabbage salad dressing is sesame-based! A flavor that pretty much everyone, everyone, everyone would love.

Rice and shiitake mushroom miso soup at Tonka

The rice was..... genuinely so delicious. Even just eating a mouthful of plain rice was tasty!!!!

The miso soup unusually didn't have a wide variety of ingredients inside, but it had plenty of shiitake mushrooms, so the aroma was~~ incredibly good and the flavor was very clean!!!! I was totally like, ho ho ho... it tasted so good..

The sasami katsu I came for

A tenderness you could bite through with just your lips..... ugh, so light and nutty, absolutely top-notch!!!!!

There aren't many places that even sell sasami katsu, let alone a good one, and here it was in Amsa-dong........... I envy the Amsa-dong locals......

Even the gotgulbaegi-style kimchi was cleaned out

I even used my one cabbage salad refill, but I finished everything given to me. Rice, gone. Soup, gone. Katsu, gone. Kimchi, gone.

Oh, the kimchi was a bit unusual — it looked like gotgulbaegi (bitter lettuce root kimchi)!!! Tonka's own kimchi and soup together.. such a harmonious spread....... I want to eat it again

What to know before visiting Tonka: parking, restroom, ordering

The owner at Tonka was super kind too.... it was such a genuinely pleasant meal..... If you live in Amsa-dong, you have to go. And if you're craving sasami katsu, I'd recommend this place even if you have to travel far!

Oh, one tip: the restroom is outside the restaurant.... so I'd recommend just eating here and nothing else haha. There's a Starbucks a short walk from the restaurant too. Ate so well, thank you.