After Dining Out Editor Simplicio Paragas wrote about the katsu at Kaffee Imperial, I just had to try it. Moist, not greasy? At a good price? I’m there!
I took my niece Morgen there to check it out for lunch. We had been forwarned that this place is hard to find, as it may also go under the name “Cafe Imperial.” In fact,if you’re not looking for it, you’ll probably miss it.
Indeed, for the same price as a Zippy’s plate, you can get a full meal. Since we wanted to try as much as we could in one pop, I ordered the katsu combination ($12.95) and she ordered the sukiyaki don (about $8.95). We each started with a bowl of miso soup and a few pieces of edamame. Then the meal…!
Morgen’s Sukiyaki Don
Usually when you order something like a sukiyaki don, there’s a whole lotta rice and not a lot of everything else. This was a lot of (tasty) meat over a good portion of rice, with a very comforting broth poured over it. Morgen was swooning.
We also picked at my Katsu Combo plate, as you can see above. We ordered the potato croquette on the side, which tasted like the potato salad, only breaded. The shrimp and scallop katsus were nothing special. The pork katsu was pretty good, but if you search the internet you will find that most bloggers agree: The chicken katsu is the winnah. It lives up to the hype, being moist but not greasy, with a wonderful taste that is made more wonderful with the homemade tonkatsu sauce they have on the side. When I go back, I’ll definitely have more chicken katsu.
With culinary prowess, Morgen exclaimed, “This is better than Zippys!” Again, it’s really about the same price, but you get so much more.
One thing we disagreed on: Morgen felt that the potato salad was very good, with the perfect mix of flavors and textures. She reached over and ate it all, which was a good thing because I couldn’t bring myself to like it. No one makes potato salad like my mom!
Kafee Imperial is open for lunch and dinner. Just park on the street or in the building at 725 Kapiolani; this restaurant is in the corridor just before Kapiolani Boulevard.
Kaffee Imperial Tonkatsu House
725 Kapiolani Boulevard
Telephone: 593-2626
