Fry Daddy: Koromaru at Marukai Pacific Square, Gardena

So now that it's The Year of The Dog, or 2006, or whatever you wanna call it, I do have a couple of resolutions. First, I need to save more money. This will hopefully be done by cutting down on unnecessary purchases like designer jeans and earrings. On the other hand, it will also be done by investing in useful tools that will hopefully help me with the second resolution of eating at home more. Third, I need to go on a fitness and diet regimen to slim and tone me up for my upcoming wedding. OK, so I'm not fat but I still want to lose a few pounds. Think I'm crazy? Try telling that to any bride.

I was out in the South Bay one sunny Saturday afternoon trying on wedding dresses coincidentally, and with one swift blow, I broke all three of my resolutions. It was lunchtime and since I was out, there was no way I could have kept the first two. The third, however, is a different story. Yeah, I could have bought some lean turkey on whole wheat or maybe some sushi, but instead, I drove my ass over to the Marukai Pacific Square food court and stuffed my face with a menchi katsu sandwich from Koromaru. (What??? Trying on wedding dresses all morning takes alot of work!)

The first thing I noticed when I first laid eyes on Koromaru was that all of the fake plastic food in its display case weren't just any fake plastic food, but that they were all fake plastic deep fried foods...deep fried cutlets, deep fried croquettes, deep fried stuff on sticks...you name it, they can probably deep fry it.


Looks good enough to eat!

At Koromaru, you can get as elaborate as a bento box consisting of a deep fried something, such as chicken karaage, pork loin and tenderloin tonkatsu, or a combination of deep fried somethings, plus rice and salad all for under 8 bucks. Or you can go as simple as a deep fried squid stick or a deep fried lotus root stick for a buck and change. They've got a variety of croquettes ranging from butter corn to curry to vegetable, which you can even have sandwich style in the form of a "croquette dog" for just under 4 dollars.

Today I chose a menchi katsu sandwich made with deep fried ground meat patties as it was the easiest thing to eat in the car. (Quit yer bitching...I have not relapsed into anti-eating alone-hood, Marukai Pacific Square has very limited seating!) It took awhile to prepare, but man, it was worth the wait! It was sort of like eating a deep fried meatloaf sandwich only better. The ground meat was seasoned well with onions and spices and was enveloped by a perfectly fried outer shell. The cutlets sat between refreshing shredded cabbage and slices of thick white sandwich bread that were lightly slathered with mayo and drizzed with tonkatsu sauce. This sandwich kicked ass.


Today I am on The Menchi Katsu Diet

But it will not help me lose any weight. Eh, for a good sandwich I won't stress out over it...there's always tomorrow, right?

Koromaru at the Marukai Pacific Square Foodcourt
1620 W. Redondo Beach Blvd.
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 538-1126