Gangdong tonkatsu with truffle oil and salt: Riae Premium

I have a habit of saving neighborhood restaurant finds one by one in Naver Map! I finally visited Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch, an Olympic Park tonkatsu spot I had saved and been watching for ages. When my husband said, seemingly out of nowhere, “I’m craving crispy tonkatsu for dinner tonight,” we took a leisurely walk from home and happily headed over.

Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch: location and parking

Address: 46 Seongnae-ro 18-gil, 1F Unit 1-1, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 강동구 성내로18길 46 1층 1-1호) Hours: Daily 11:00–20:00 (break time 15:00–16:00 / last order 19:30)

Parking: Available behind the restaurant (alternative parking: Olympic Park P4 parking lot).

We arrived around 5:30 p.m., and several tables were already enjoying their meals. Tonkatsu really must be an eternal soul food for men, because there were quite a few tables of male friends.

Inside, there were comfortable counter seats for solo diners, plus baby chairs for families with young children, so it was laid out as an easy place for anyone to visit.

Ordering Jirisan aged sirloin cutlet and special loin katsu

• Jirisan aged sirloin cutlet (my choice)
• Premium special loin katsu + added small cold soba (my husband’s choice)

While we chatted after ordering, our food finally arrived—and the moment it was set on the table, both of us were wide-eyed. The clear color of the crust showed at a glance that it had been fried in clean oil, and the meat was exceptionally thick!

Most tonkatsu places serve one strip, but this place gave us a whopping two pieces, so the portion was truly huge.

Sesame dressing and four dipping options

Before properly digging into the tonkatsu, I shook up the sesame-based salad dressing at the table and poured plenty over the crisp cabbage.

The savory, sweet, and tangy umami of the dressing was so good that I thought, “If I had just this secret sauce, I’d eat salad at home every single day without limit.”

There were also four neatly arranged options for enjoying the tonkatsu in different ways: wasabi, salt, tonkatsu sauce, and truffle oil.

My favorite irresistible pairing: “truffle oil + salt”

Drizzle a little truffle oil over a piece of tonkatsu, then dip it in salt, and the luxurious truffle fragrance fills your mouth while the saltiness maximizes the pork’s own umami. Of course, it was also wonderfully different with wasabi for a clean finish, or with classic tonkatsu sauce!

Comparing the sirloin cutlet and special loin katsu

Jirisan aged sirloin cutlet: The thick-cut sirloin was full of moist, tender lean meat beneath its crisp crust. Its clean yet nutty sirloin flavor gently came through with every bite, giving it a lightness that never became tiring.

Premium special loin katsu: The special loin katsu my husband ordered had an artistic balance of lean meat and fat. In particular, the rich, nutty flavor of the fat from its thick layer left a deep impression.

Whenever it threatened to feel rich, the pickled chili peppers, pickled radish, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) served as banchan (side dishes) freshened up our mouths and added a crisp texture.

Finishing with small cold soba

The small cold soba my husband added as a side made for the perfect finish, with the clean taste of buckwheat noodles blending beautifully with the salty, subtly savory tsuyu dipping broth. Adding cool, clean soba broth to tonkatsu that could otherwise feel substantial confirmed once again that the “tonkatsu + soba” pairing simply cannot fail!

Even my husband, who usually has a huge appetite, kept saying, “I’m really full” throughout the meal. But because the pork itself was so excellent, he showed his strength in the end and finished every last piece without leaving anything behind.

If you are looking for thick tonkatsu in Seongnae-dong

This premium tonkatsu, carefully fried with top-quality aged pork, left me feeling as though I had been treated to a truly proper meal. If you want life-changing tonkatsu with thick, high-quality meat around Seongnae-dong or Dunchon-dong, I highly recommend visiting Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch! 👍