Bell loves the black pig katsudon sold at Tampopo Deli at the basement of Liang Court, but she has never eaten at the restaurant. So I suggested to try the restaurant one day since it’s just located on the ground floor of Liang Court.
Today is the day and we went to Tampopo Restaurant for an early dinner. The restaurant was still fairly empty as it was not really dinnertime yet. We were shown to a small booth. It was a strange size; spacious for two people but quite a squeeze for four people. I know because I sat in the same booth previously with three other people.
We chose a black pig dish each.
I wanted a tonkatsu set. There were various options listed in the menu serving different cuts of meat. While the different cuts were listed, there was no explanation in the menu about the differences between the cuts. So I asked a waitress about the difference between shoulder and loin. The waitress flipped through the menu and showed me a diagram of the cuts and said, “The shoulder meat is from from the shoulder while the loin is from the back.” I kept a straight face and thanked her for her trouble.
I actually wanted to ask about the differences between the taste and texture of the different cuts but after the waitress’ explanation, I refrained from asking anymore and just picked the loin cut. The waitress was not being rude actually tried her best to be helpful. But she clearly had no idea about the dishes in the restaurant and it was useless to ask her for recommendations on the dishes. I wondered if it was just her or were other staff like that also. Bell and I didn’t have a chance to find out.
The food was quite nice. The meat was tender and the breadcrumbs crispy.
Bell had a grilled pork set, also using meat from the black pig. It was not bad but not as nice as the tonkatsu.
After the meal, Bell had a very severe backache. It was because the table in the booth was a strange height. It was too low and caused Bell to keep leaning downwards as she eat. I experienced the same problem the previous time I ate there. This time I held my bowl of rice in my left hand so I did not get a backache.
As we left the restaurant, we decided not to go back again. The food was good but the dining experience spoil everything. We thought sitting at the tables might be better because they would be of proper height but neither of us are keen to try again. We decided to just buy the food from Tampopo Deli instead.
Tampopo Restaurant
177 River Valley Road
#01-23/24 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Tel: 63383186
There’s a Tampopo at Takashimaya basement, i’m sure the seats are a lot more comfy there!