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Restaurant Review: Anzu (杏子)

Anzu's healthy pork fillet pot with a medley of wild mushrooms keeps out the winter cold. PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES

Anzu (杏子)

Address: 2, Ln 271, Fuxing S Rd Sec 2, Taipei

(台北市復興南路二段271巷2號)

Telephone: (02) 2701-0298

Open: Weekdays 1am to 2:30pm, 5pm to 9pm; weekends 11am to 9:30pm

Average meal: NT$400

Details: Chinese menu with pictures; credit cards accepted

Though tonkatsu, or Japanese fried pork cutlet, may seem like simple fare, Anzu, which is hidden in a small alley next to the Technology Building metro station, gives the dish a whole new level of sophistication.

Anzu is well-known in its hometown of Fukuoka, Japan, for making exceptional tonkatsu, and the whole process has been transferred lock, stock and deep-fryer to Taipei. The small, intimate establishment opened its doors this June.

Quality is naturally something that the restaurant emphasizes, and chef Kenny Chen (陳之楷) waxes lyrical about the seven days of aging accorded to each cutlet, and the fine distinctions in texture and taste between tonkatsu made from pork loin or fillet (both are available).

But even before you get into these subtleties, the creative, seasonal menu is likely to grab your attention. The healthy pork fillet pot with a medley of wild mushrooms (綜合野菇里肌豬排善鍋) takes the conventional tonkatsu - a big piece of breaded pork fillet deep-fried until golden and crispy - and tosses it into a light soup of mixed mushrooms, the whole thing topped off with heaps of grated radish and scallions (NT$330). The bottom part of the batter soaks up the soup while the top remains crisp, producing a variety of textures. The mushrooms take tonkatsu to a totally new place on the flavor map. Even the grated radish has a dry crunchiness very different from the usual mush that accompanies so much Japanese food.

This, as with all other dishes on the menu, comes with a bowl of rice (white or mixed grain), a bowl of miso soup (currently either clam with regular miso or wild vegetables with an unusual wheat miso, which is a specialty of Japan's Kyushu island), and a bowl of white sesame seeds that can be ground into the barbecue sauce.

If the large meat portions are too much, another seasonal dish on the menu is deep-fried Canadian oysters with medallions of tenderloin (酥炸鮮牡蠣腰內豬排套餐), which consists of two massive oysters covered in Anzu's crispy breadcrumb mix and two small portions of tonkatsu (NT$350).

Though seafood-eating vegetarians are catered to - Anzu serves a colorful vegetable and shrimp platter (NT$290) - this establishment is primarily designed for carnivores. Portions are substantial by Japanese standards. Sake, shochu (燒酒) and plum wine are available in addition to the usual range of beer, and to finish off, homemade tofu flavored with almonds makes an excellent dessert.
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