Loin katsu solo set with chicken karaage added in Yeonnam: Katsu

The basics here are so good you could eat here every single day without getting tired of it — perfect for eating solo or for a Yeonnam-dong date. I ate at Katsu Monster and tried a good range: karaage, cold soba, and loin katsu. Here's my review!

Finding my way to Katsu Monster Yeonnam Main Branch

From the convenience store street leading into Yeonnam-dong, I always get lost among the alleys, but this place was right near the start of the alley, so it was super easy to find. Turn once after entering and you can see it right away — the restaurant is at the end of that alley, but the sign says "pork cutlet" in big letters so it was easy to spot. If you see the alley in the photo above, that's the one to go into!

Keep walking straight in and you'll see the pork cutlet restaurant.

The place was cozy. There was a table for solo diners as well as a variety of seating including 4-person and 2-person tables.

Katsu Monster's full menu and the solo set

You order at the kiosk, and I thought it was so cute that they guide you on how to eat pork cutlet via a QR code.

Katsu Monster stuck to the basics well — they had loin katsu (deungsim), fillet, and even an upper loin cutlet with pork jowl attached, plus cheese katsu and half-and-half. Among these, I ordered the solo set menu. There were also rice dishes paired with noodles or curry — spicy chicken curry udon, nabe, spicy pork cutlet curry, cold soba, cold udon — making it a great spot to visit daily, and for sides there's chicken karaage, spicy curry, and gyoza dumplings. If you want both pork cutlet and curry but don't want the burden of two full menu items, adding the spicy curry as a side would be perfect.

I added chicken karaage as a side. Since the set menu lets you add a noodle dish, I chose cold soba, picked the solo set with loin katsu and cold soba, and added chicken karaage on top haha.

What sauces are on the table

After ordering, I noticed the various sauces placed on every table. There was a distinctive salt, pork cutlet sauce, shichimi, soy sauce, salad dressing, and more — a really wide variety. There was even wasabi, so while waiting for the food I scooped out some pork cutlet sauce and wasabi to taste, and unlike the store-bought pork cutlet sauces you usually get, this one was tastier and cleaner-tasting.

Food review

When the food came out, I was a little surprised by the size of the pork cutlet and the karaage. I thought the cold soba would be small since it was included in the set, but it was huge. Not just the portion — the karaage was so delicious that I thought, why don't they just sell karaage as a main menu item like chicken instead of a side? I wanted to buy a huge portion and take it to the Han River, it was that good.

Loin katsu

I started by tasting the loin katsu first. Personally, I loved that none of the dishes came with sauce already poured on. Especially the salad — instead of the dressing being poured on ahead of time, it came with plenty of cabbage on the side so you could pour the table sauce on fresh, to your own taste, which I really liked.

The pork cutlet wasn't just big — it was also very thick, so it was satisfying to eat.

It's delicious plain with wasabi, and also delicious with pork cutlet sauce, but my recommended combo is to put wasabi on top and then dip it in the sauce.

Kelp rice and pork bone broth soup

The rice and soup that came with the pork cutlet were also outstanding. The rice was kelp rice with finely chopped kelp mixed in, so it had rich stickiness and savory depth.

I usually don't eat the soup much, but I gave it a casual stir and — wow, there were huge chunks of pork inside. Also, the soup wasn't just hot water mixed with powder — it was a clean, carefully simmered broth, and I scraped the bowl clean.

Chicken karaage

The karaage tasted downright moving! In the photo I framed it so the whole piece fits in, so it doesn't quite convey it, but it's genuinely huge. And it's completely handmade. So both the batter and the karaage itself had a flavor that wasn't the usual kind.

The sauce also seemed to be their own house blend, and its distinctive taste kept me dipping in again and again.

Dessert

For dessert, a sweet gangjeong (Korean traditional sweet snack) came out, which was a nice finishing touch.