Weekend 11:30 wait and curry cheese katsu in Geomdan: HOKATSU

I was on the hunt for a good tonkatsu spot in Dangha-dong, Geomdan, and finally made it to HOKATSU!

Why we chose HOKATSU, a tonkatsu restaurant in Dangha-dong, Geomdan

HOKATSU is a well-known tonkatsu (pork cutlet) specialty restaurant in Dangha-dong, Geomdan. On the way back from the hospital one weekend, I finally stopped by. When you ask kids what they want to eat, like 90% of the time it's tonkatsu, right? Haha. My first kid is definitely one of those tonkatsu-always kids too.

HOKATSU address, opening hours and parking

• Address: 128, 788 Seoro-ro, Seo-gu, Incheon, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00am – 9:30pm
• Break time: 3:30pm – 5:00pm
• Parking, takeout, and delivery all available

It's located in the dining area on the 1st floor of the Geomdan Megabox building! The parking lot is underground behind the building and it's pretty spacious.

Weekend wait at HOKATSU: what time should you arrive?

I'd recommend going around 11:30am if you're visiting HOKATSU on the weekend. When I got there at that time, exactly one seat was left and I could sit right down, but by around noon people kept lining up to wait. Since I visited a bit early, there was no wait for me and I could sit straight away. But the place was already nearly full. The space isn't huge, but it looked really neat and tidy!

I'd recommend coming around 11:30am on weekends. When I got there one seat was left, and by around noon people kept waiting.

Luckily(?) there were plenty of seats outside for waiting, so I could eat without feeling rushed haha.

The first things that caught my eye were the 2026 Blue Ribbon Survey plaque and the 2023 Outstanding Customer Brand nameplate. It made me feel reassured even before eating, since it seemed like they take real pride in what they make!

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside tonkatsu

The self-serve side dish bar and the honey yogurt served before the meal

At HOKATSU you can help yourself to more side dishes at the self-serve bar :) The self-serve bar was really clean, which I liked.

Before the tonkatsu arrives, they serve a complimentary natural honey yogurt! It's homemade, and the kids loved it — for me it was a nice palate cleanser too :)

Finally, our order arrived! At HOKATSU nothing is pre-fried or pre-breaded ahead of time — everything is made fresh the moment the order comes in, so you have to wait about 15 minutes on average.

How is the curry cheese katsu? Soft enough to eat with a spoon

HOKATSU's curry cheese katsu was way better than I expected. The meat is shredded into fine strands throughout. It seemed like they deliberately pulled it apart to make it easy to scoop up!

The meat isn't tough at all — it's soft enough that you can just eat it with a spoon and it goes down smoothly.

The curry is rich but not salty, with tons of umami, so I kept scooping more and more haha. The portion is generous too!

The cheese katsu the kids ordered

Second, the cheese katsu the kids had combined the flavor of cheese with sweet potato, giving it more variety and making it nuttier and tastier than other cheese cutlets I've had! There's so much cheese stuffed inside that it stretches when you pull it apart, which made eating it fun too :)

Crispy outside, moist inside — one bite in and I was like, 'oh, this is good!' They say it's dry-aged meat aged with homemade yogurt, and maybe that's why the meat felt so tender.

When I eat tonkatsu, if the coating is too thick or the meat is dry, I get sick of it fast. But HOKATSU's tonkatsu balances crispiness and tenderness so well that I enjoyed every bite until the end.

If you're a cheese lover, keep an eye on the cheese katsu too. It's got a savory cheese element that gives it a different flavor from a plain tonkatsu, and it's worth trying haha.

Spicy tonkotsu ramen, my husband's pick

My husband ordered the spicy tonkotsu ramen, and he said the spice level he loves came through without being heavy — just a nicely spicy-hearty flavor.

Would I recommend HOKATSU? Final verdict

Everyone enjoyed their meal, all to their taste! Haha. HOKATSU, a tonkatsu place in Dangha-dong, Geomdan, is a great spot for a simple weekend lunch, and since it's close by, it's somewhere I'd like to stop by often. The kids said it was delicious and want to come again, so I think we'll be back before too long :)

• The tonkatsu is crispy outside and juicy inside — really good.
• There's fun in choosing between options like cheese katsu and shrimp tempura.
• With rice, soup, salad, and yogurt, it makes for a satisfying full meal.