Wako Donkasu

Ordered this for my friend to try when she visited from out of town last week. The food delivery addiction is real. Got the cheese cutlet and chicken cutlet to share between the 2 of us. I used to stick to my usual pork or chicken cutlet but OMG the cheese cutlet has truly won me over. The cheese is melted inside and oozes into your mouth when you take a bite. And I’m always a fan of their side salad and sauce. Delivery via Rushorder was pretty affordable since my friend got a couple dollars off with the hungry3 code when she signed up. Way better than having to move my butt off my couch!

Came here lunch with a group of friends and we all ate everything on our plates! Not only was the food good but the portions are huge and very affordable! I ordered the pork katsu and udon combo ($ 15). The donkatsu was hearty and crispy and I loved the donkatsu dipping sauce. They also include a fried shrimp, potato croquette and cabbage salad. The udon was really great with the donkatsu, but nothing special about it. Food came out pretty quick and I really appreciate the presentation of everything.

I ordered togo today and the food was horrible. As a chef I can see they using tempura oil over 3 weeks Suck!!!

This is definitely A place to indulge in comfort food, one Donkatsu at a time. Fried cutlet with curry is my favorite. If you’re really hungry, get the combo and it comes with a side of udon noodles! Drooling as we speak!

This is a good running Korean tonkatsu house in the style of a Japanese Katsu house. They give you a few extras to make it Korean with the kimchi And pickled sweet jalapeños. Place reminds me of the Katsu houses of Tokyo. I’ve been here many times and yet to be disappointed given that Tokyo
is far from home.

TO ALL PARENTS. STAY AWAY…
Unf***kin believable. My wife and I have been loyal customers for over 6 years even when service and quality are always a hit or miss. I even cater company lunches once a month but no more. We brought our newborn for the first time and in the middle of lunch our baby was hungry. I politely asked one of the workers if he can help me out with a bowl of hot water to heat my baby’s bottle and he replies no hot water. We are boiling it right now… Wtf? A friggin restaurant has no hot running water? That is complete bullshit. Sanitation code states running hot water is mandatory in any restaurant. He was obviously not in the mood to help my baby. I asked another waitress and no hope. I got so pissed I ended up walking to Yoshinoya across the street to get 2 cups of hot water. They were more than nice, even talking crap about the employees at Wako.
To the owner and the employees, 3 things you Never mess around with are babies, elderly and handicapped.
My suggestion, whenever a parent asks for bowl of hot water to feed their child, take 30 seconds of your time to care and help… At least pretend to care.

I FOUND A COCKROACH IN MY FOOD. Why should lunch be a fear factor episode?
I ordered the original Katsu and found a live bug in my food. Running around in my salad. When I told the waiter he apologized and took the plate. I guess there isn’t any other way to approach a customer who found something gross in their food. Maybe that’s why he never came back after that. There were no managers or anyone who came to apologize or show some concern that this happened. They offered me new food and that was the end of their service.
The service was pretty nonexistent even before this happened but I get it it’s lunch time and there were a ton of people rolling in and only 3 people working. We still tipped because yes the idea of creepy crawlies in your food is terrible but it wasn’t the waiters fault. He merely served is the food but he should’ve been a little more professional about it or found someone who could solve this issue more appropriately. If there is one roach then there is sure to plenty more where three came from. Please eat here at your own risk. Won’t be back. K thanks bye.

Great service, great Tonkatsu! Would have rather gotten the combo. So much more food for only a couple extra bucks. But even so, the regular dish comes with a ton of food too!
I tried the chicken curry and the traditional pork cutlet, and I don’t think the curry was as good as the traditional katsu. The cats was nice and crispy, with tender juicy meat inside (and the pork wasn’t too fatty to eat!).
I like that you get to grind up your own sesame for the sauce before your katsu arrives. The place is very authentic, and has barley tea water by default, which was a nice surprise. It’s also a good place for groups — everyone at our table enjoyed the food at Wako!

Growing up in the LA area, I used to beg my parents to take me out for Japanese style curry. The holy grail back in the day was none other than Curry House in Little Tokyo. Now they have multiple locations around LA and in the OC. Curry House is a sentimental favorite of mine… So I occasionally go back for a lunch every now and then. Over the last few years though, Curry House has been depressing. It feels run down, old and each time you see the menu, they’re trying to expand it in weird ways.
I ended up trying Wako Donkasu over the weekend with the in laws. At 2:10pm on a motherf***king Saturday, this place was almost packed. Such an awkward time of day for lunch, yet this place was going off.
I can see why.
I ordered a chicken katsu and hot soba combo. The waiter brought out the mortar and wooden pestle to grind up the seeds, over which he poured perfectly chilled curry sauce. When my combo arrived, it looked picture perfect. The chicken was nicely battered and sliced into nice pieces. The hot soba noodles were al dente and the broth had such good flavor and also soothed my sore throat. The cabbage salad was shredded into a neat, puffy pile with some tasty dressing poured on top. Lastly there was a small serving of pickled jalapeños that I simply loved, along with a serving of kimchee.
Everything put together added up to one of the best katsu meals I’ve ever had.
Unlike my young days back in the 1900s, today in the modern age there are tons of katsu curry options, whether the Curry House, Hurry Curry on Sawtelle, or any of the Mitsuwa (Yaohan) food courts, or Japanese/​Korean/​Taiwanese cafes all over LA, SGV, and the OC.
But I have to tell you: This Korean owned version of Japanese curry is truly fantastic.
And I’m sad to say, I probably won’t visit Curry House ever again, even for sentimental reasons. As die-​hard loyal as I may normally be, Wako Donkasu is so damn good. I can’t wait to return.

I got cheeses don !!
That was really hug and lots of cheeses on their!
Server is so bad as Unilocal!LoL
But food is great !

If you’re going to have donkasu, it better be at Wako. I mean, the dish is in the name. I usually order the regular pork cutlet but when I’m feeling naughty, I get the cheese one. Lots of food for the price.
I would definitely recommend.

I love donkatsu. Especially these Japanese style ones!
* I always order the Soba Combo — its a lot of food. I just pack left over for next day lunch
* Donkatsu is super crispy and fresh
* Salad is so fresh and juicy OMG
* Overall experience with service & food = LOVE

Donkatsu is one of those guilty pleasure foods… Just kidding, it’s straight up pleasure food. Who wouldn’t enjoy huge portions of fried goodness? After you order, you have the opportunity to grind your sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle fashion before they add the sauce. It’s a great way to kill time before your food arrives since you’d be on your phone anyway (who converses during dinner nowadays right… Please keep the idea of talking alive please).
I haven’t really got much to say except that pork katsu and chicken katsu are my alternating orders whenever I come here. I feel like you get more chicken but the pork is slightly more flavorful. Regardless, you won’t go wrong with what you order. Go wako for your food.

After hearing so many good things about Wako Donkasu, I finally stopped in for dinner tonight. There were many a good amount of people dining here on a Thursday night but there were still a handful of open tables so we were seated immediately.
The menu is fairly simple– different katsus such as pork, chicken, NY steak, hamburger, fish, etc. All the katsus come with rice, cabbage salad, miso soup, and two small sides (we had sweet marinated jalapenos and spicy radish). They also have combos with udon or soba. I ordered the Pork Cutlet Katsu and my boyfriend got the NY Steak Katsu. We both liked the pork katsu more than the steak– it was more flavorful and the steak was kind of dry. Everything was fried nicely– crispy and no film of oil left in your mouth. I’m not a huge fan of their dipping sauce which is why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.
Overall, service was quick and attentive and prices are OK. It was good but not the best I’ve had. I still think Young Dong has the best katsu!

Katsu heaven!
You can usually find (chicken or pork) katsu in most standard Japanese restaurants, but Wako Donkasu took it a step further and eliminated most of the other filler bullshit that it usually comes with… and straight up focuses on the KATSU!
Katsu just means (fried) cutlet lol, and it’s usually made with pork or chicken, but there are no limits! Since Wako specializes in katsus, they also have more options like fish or CHEESE or even steak/​beef. I have never tried the cheese but I assume it’s a meat PLUS cheese??? I can’t imagine them frying up a big ol slab of cheese and serving that lol. But I’ll be sure to try it next time. Looks gooey and amazing.
Anywayyyyyyy so the bf and I went on a Friday night. No wait for a table, but the restaurant was considerably busy. We were both hungry so it was nice to find that the service was quick!
We each ordered the katsu combo, which comes with your choice of meat katsu (I chose chicken, he chose pork), a croquette, and a shrimp… katsu? It was fried with panko breadcrumbs and not tempura batter, so I wouldn’t call it tempura… Whatever, the combo comes with one FRIED SHRIMP! lol. And it also comes with a side slaw/​salad, some pickled shit, as well as your choice of udon (me) or soba (bf). We also shared a bowl of rice.
The combo is BIG, just FYI. I knew that coming in but I was like whatevs, leftovers for later! Btw quick tip for reheating katsu (or other similar fried foods): reheat them in a frying pan! No need to add oil, just heat up a pan and toast the katsu pieces on both sides until hot and re-​crisped. Way faster than a toaster oven/​oven. You’re welcome.
SO yes the combo is pretty big, but why not :) The bf finished the whole thing, but he was really full afterwards so I guess that’s perfect for him. I finished a lil more than half, but there was a good amount of chicken katsu left since they pretty much give you a two-​stack lol (for chicken).
My udon came in a simple hot broth and some konbu and whatnot. Delicious! Nice and chewy. It was nice to have udon as a side instead of rice, but tbh I still prefer to eat my katsus with rice — so it was good that we both shared a side of it lol. I also tried my bf’s cold soba and it was also good, simple and OG. Sometimes less is more.
The croquette was yummy, the fried shrimp was bomb, but definitely the star of the dish was the katsu. My chicken katsu was juicy and crispy, and same with the pork. THAT KATSU SAUCE, yes the one where they make you grind your own sesame seeds and then topped off with their glorious katsu sauce… yes I LOVE IT. It’s good to have a specialty katsu sauce for a specialty katsu place. yanno? Just makes sense. AND it’s bomb.
The side salad/​slaw was ok. I’d rather have Daikokuya’s slaw any day.
So overall, it was a goooood time. Only reason why it’s not 5 stars is that katsu is not all that gourmet, and I can make the same thing at home for much cheaper (which I do occasionally!) lol BUUUUUT they do it well! And ya gotta give credit where credit is due. AWESOME SAUCE! Literally.

Pretty good! There isn’t a restaurant specially for donkasu in Seattle so I was pretty new to the idea but I liked it!
You can hear the kitchen pounding on the meats so you know it’s freshly made to order. They give you sesame seeds to grind so you mix that with katsu sauce!
I got the chicken donkasu combo with udon and also ordered the wako ramen.
The wako ramen was really big so we couldnt finish it!
Overall I would come back here if Iw as ever in the LA area again.

4.2 stars for Wako.
They let you grind up your own sesame for the katsu sauce while you’re waiting, which is fun!
The katsu is fried to perfection. The perfect crispiness and texture of the meat is incredible! :) A ton of my church friends RAVE about this place. I don’t know if it’s rave-​worthy but it is quite good if you’re in the mood for some meat.
I always get the chicken katsu order because it comes with a rack of meat about double that of the pork katsu order so that I have leftovers for lunch the next day. And don’t roll your eyes guys but believe it or not, I don’t really taste much of a difference between chicken and pork katsu HAHA.

ALL THE DEEP FRIED! Boyfriend has been craving this place & spoke so highly of Wako. Wako is indeed impressive — huge portions, decent prices and all deep-​fried glory. I think Man V. Food should do an episode here.
Not only do they have Donkasu (chicken, pork, CHEESE — YES CHEESE!), they also have soba, udon, curry, rice bowls. The choices!
I ordered the Curry Pork Katsu & boyfriend had the Katsu & Soba Combo. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the Curry was. Hit the spot and JUST as good as Curry-​specialty restaurants like Curry House!
Non-​Curry Katsu is served with a gomu (sesame sauce) much like the one you’re given a shabu. Personally didn’t think it needed it but a nice, tasty twist.
Only complaint is that I’m used to globs of Thousand Island on the cabbage. They use a tangier variety. I did notice that everything that it comes with (side dishes — radish and other pickled things) helps to balance the deep fried/​richness. Nom.
Parking is tough — street parking!

I hate eating/​ordering Tonkatsu at a restaurant. It’s one of those things that I could perfectly make so it doesn’t make sense to spend for it. Of course, until Wako enters the picture.
For $ 15, Wako gives me a set menu that includes Tonkatsu, croquette ball, one thing of tempura shrimp and zaru soba. It’s probably the best set menu I can get in town for that kind of price!
So why just three stars then? Service & the salad. Whatever salad dressing they use is just flat out hideous. I don’t dare touch my pile of veggies because I don’t understand that dressing. Service isn’t great either. It’s a simple hi, hello — what do you want — here’s the bill and that’s it.
Either way, I’d still go back to Wako for my awesome set menu when I’m feeling too lazy to cook!
P. S. Parking’s is free and easy. It’s down 1 or 2 lots from Wako.

This is the spot to go to if you are craving donkatsu since they specialize just in this as opposed to other joints that will do a variety of dishes including Donkatsu. I was driving around Ktown on a Monday afternoon to kill time before flying back to SF and literally got jolted back to my first experience at Wako and stopped in for a quick lunch. The parking is a bit confusing at this particular location but I think there is a lot but just be careful which spots you park as there are certainly reserved spots.
I stepped in and after quickly looking through the menu I decided to go with the Chicken Donkatsu. The service was fine for the joint and they obviously have the bell you can press at the table to call over for some folks. These guys provide you the Sesame seeds that you can crush in a bowl and eventually mix in your donkatsu sauce. Now let me warn you here, the portions are pretty massive. Or at least I think so. They give you the small kkaduki, miso soup, rice, and of course the chicken katsu. The katsu was breaded well, tender, and juicy. From what I recall the chicken is slightly better than the pork but each has their own opinion. The sauce here is pretty delicious… a bit on the sweet side compared to the sauces I have had in korea but still solid.
All in all, a good place to grab a quick lunch especially if you are craving katsu.

Scrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrumptious