Saboten Guangfu — Restaurant in Taipei

Oct 2022 I want to mention that I only understand English and I got taken here by my Chinese-speaking relatives. This is a Japanese-style place specializing in (delicious!) pork katsu. The place is well lit, clean, and relatively quiet with booths and combo chair/booth tables. The staff are polite in a formal, unobtrusive way. To order, you can tell a waitstaff or use the tablet they give. Note the tablet can be switched to English (it's not perfect, but enough for me to understand what I'm ordering). They also offer a drink & dessert combo to your entree for an additional NT$79 (an excellent deal).

We both got a Tonkatsu set, which comes with a salad, miso soup, rice, 3 veggies (black beans, burdock, leafy green), and a small cup of plum vinegar. You can get free refills on the salad, veggies, and rice. They offer 2 types of rice: white and something else. They also give you sesame seeds in a mortar with a pestle. I'm not completely sure what it's for, but according to my relatives, you grind up the sesame seeds and then mix it with the katsu sauce to use for the meat. The katsu sauce is already on the table in a jar with a wooden lid and ladle.

For dessert, we got Matcha ice cream with red bean and sweet Red Bean soup/paste with sticky rice balls. Both were very good and I seriously recommend getting the combo deal. Very good price and very filling. I would...

Saboten is a Japanese restaurant serving Tonkatsu originated from Tokyo Japan. Its Tonkatsu is a must try item in its menu. Besides pork dishes, one can also find curry, chicken katsu, fried shrimp, fish and veg mains in its menu. But, pork is what makes Saboten famous. Cabbage, pickles, miso soup and rice are unlimitedly served here. Before eating Tonkatsu, please grind the sesame seeds and mix Saboten’s Tonkatsu sauce with the ground sesame, making it a perfect dip for the Tonkatsu! One drawback of this particular restaurant is that in its gentleman’s restroom, both of the urinals are out of order, making customers quite inconvenient to use the restroom. Please fix them as soon as possible, or gentleman has to queue for the only...

My go-to place for a relaxing, quiet, open atmosphere and yummy tonkatsu.

My only star off is because…why do staff insist on reminding customers with every other sentence that the mealtime is restricted to 90 minutes?? That seems really unecessary communication and causes customers to feel rushed, especially when 1/3-1/2 tables are still empty.

Is there some new rule about 90 minute dining in Taipei that I‘m not aware of? I‘m understanding of the need for a time restriction, especially with busy businesses but - read the room. I don’t remember this reminder being a constant irritant during previous visits but ugh, leaves a bad taste in the mouth to be told this rule at least 7-10 times, especially after an otherwise...