New eats: Koromo in Pearlridge
It’s very rare for restaurants to open with great service and great food while claiming to still be ironing the bugs out … but Koromo, a new katsu restaurant in Pearlridge, did just that. And I can’t wait to go back.
It’s in the old Agu space in Wai Makai (the phase formerly known as Downtown), owned by Tom Jones — who, ironically, opened Agu there originally.
They soft opened last weekend, serving only dinner on Saturday and Sunday, then only lunch on Monday and Tuesday. But today, they plan to be open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and stick to mall hours from here on in.
Note that this is one of those places that brings you a little dish and a wooden pestle so you can grind your own sesame seeds, then add tonkatsu sauce that’s sweet or spicy (I like to do half and half).
You can’t go wrong with tonkatsu, so if you love pork, any of these choices is great. Both were good, but we found it interesting that the “sakura” loin was juicier than the “duroc” filet.
If you can’t decide on one or the other, you can get a combo teishoku. They combine tonkatsu with the seafood, chicken katsu with seafood, or tonkatsu and chicken katsu.
In any case, I’m glad I tried the tonkatsu first, because although they were good, the chicken katsu blows everything else out of the water. Koromo uses fresh, local chicken, so the pieces are exceptionally moist — always a good thing, but exceptional as katsu.
When I go back, I’ll probably order a combo kaki fry with chicken katsu teishoku. Yes, that’s “when” I go back, not “if.”
Disclaimer: I do the social media for Pearlridge Center. However, Koromo is not my client and our entire party paid for our own meal.
Koromo
98-1005 Moanalua Road
808-468-1919
