Kurobuta — Restaurant in Kagoshima

Given that Kagoshima is famous for it's Black Pork there are no doubt several ways you'll want to try it. The ideas that spring to mind are Pork (Tonkotsu) Ramen, Shabu-Shabu or Tonkatsu style.

Thankfully this restaurant checks off two of those boxes with Tonkatsu and Shabu-Shabu available here. We opted for Tonkatsu specifically, as we had tried Shabu elsewhere. We didn't need to make a booking, when we came around opening time there was no wait for a table.

You can get various sets of the Tonkatsu and we opted for the tenderloin sets - one with classic panko crumbing (2,600 Yen) and one with special black crumbs (2,700 Yen). Taste wise we couldn't really tell any difference between the classic crumbs and black ones, so go with whichever you prefer.

The meat was juicy, but a little on the lean side. Depending on what you enjoy this may be a good thing or not. Personally I prefer more fat to be marbled through, but nonetheless it was still delicious. The side dishes that came with the set were nice also.

Compared to other cuts of pork I've had, I don't think the Kagoshima Black pork is any more or less delicious than what you can find elsewhere.

All round a good experience and would recommend trying if you are...

Based on many of the raving reviews here, I had elevated expectations, which was unfair to the establishment.

It’s a small but very busy restaurant that looks to be frequented mainly by tourists.

One person manages seating, orders, servicing and payment. She is super busy, but also prompt and super efficient.

The meal set is well priced and comes with free refills of rice, salad and soup. The salad (shredded cabbage) is fresh and crisp. Two types of delicious dressings, traditional and grapefruit, available.

Drinks are self-serve and includes tea, OJ and coffee.

The tonkatsu kurobuta is crispy on the outside but rather dry inside. With the house made sauce, it’s not bad, but again based on other raving reviews, I was expecting better than not bad.

If you do come, come early since the line...

My first comment here is that the Menu presentation is deliberately designed to cause confusion about the main item kuro buta. Please note that there are 2-3 types of black colored pork dishes served here. Not all of them are the black pork.

The black pork, Kurobuta I had was the original Kagoshima famous black pork. Succulent Japanese pork by any measure. Red miso soup was mouth watering. Great value for money. The catch is that rice and drink service could be better ; Sukiya’s rice tastes better. Self service free drink bar with beautiful rock ice. However all the drinks come from supermarket bottle coffee, cola and packet orange juices. Hot or cold towel is also...