We made our way across town for dinner at Edo-ya, one of the restaurants we regularly frequent in Fresno. Years ago, Edo-ya used to be called Bando-ya, but I don’t think much has changed besides the name. It’s one of those all-in-one Japanese places that has a sushi bar, dine-in, and teppanyaki. I’ve rarely had a bad experience, although maybe that’s because I tend to order items that are hard to mess up. This time, we chose to have a dinner at the dine-in area instead of teppanyaki. All their dinners come with miso soup, salad with ginger sauce, and a sizeable side dish. I ordered tonkatsu, or fried pork chops. It’s a simple dish, but as I’ve mentioned numerous times in the past, it’s hard to resist the seduction of fried pork, or fried food in general. It’s also easier to eat fried food when out because it saves me the hassle of trying to fry food at home; I usually stick to making rice bowls like oyakodon at home.
To accompany my main dish, I ordered more fried deliciousness–tempura–for a side. The other choices available include sashimi, California rolls, and fried chicken wings. For just a side dish, I received a good portion of tempura, much more than I expected: 1 shrimp, 1 broccoli, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, and 1 carrot (give or take whatever I may have forgotten in the past week or so). It was a nice golden color, and had just the right amount of batter that was fried to give a nice crunch, not enough to cut the roof of my mouth. I’d call it a standard version of tempura, not fried with the right technique to give it the crunch without the grease.
As for the tonkatsu, I didn’t expect it to be served in the form of little pork choplets, or oversized pork nuggets. Usually, tonkatsu is served as a single pork chop about half an inch to an inch thick and the size of an open hand, and sliced up in strips. Each of these pork choplets (about 5 or so) were sliced in half, making it easy for a picture of the innards. The panko crust that surrounds each cutlet was a dark brown, not the usual golden brown, which was a hint that the meat had been fried before. Upon taking a bite, grease, not juice, flowed out of the meat, covering everything that touched the surface of the cutlet. After discussing with my mom, who has more experience with cooking (but not eating) fried foods, she revealed that the color of the cutlet, along with the overwhelming amount of grease contained within the pork, was a sign that the meat had been fried previously, and was probably just taken out of the fridge and fried again for the meal. Now, I’m not an expert on making tonkatsu, but I’m sure it can’t be more difficult than 1) tenderize pork, 2) bread pork in panko crust, and 3) fry. And maybe they did make it fresh–then I would need to critique their frying skills, which are severely lacking. The rest of the dish was not very noteworthy, everything from the seaweed to the potato salad tasted like something from a grocery store.
My brother had the pork shogayaki, a dish that is comprised of onions, leeks, broccoli, and thing slices of pork in a ginger-based sauce, and a much better choice. The ginger flavor balances well with the saltiness of the soy sauce, and is the perfect accompaniment to short-grain rice.
I didn’t try my mom’s halibut with house sauce, but I’m sure it was also a better choice than my old tonkatsu. My own dinner experience was a large fail. The rest of the dinners weren’t as much a fail as mine, although it doesn’t inspire me to drive 15 minutes just to get Japanese food here.
Edo-ya Tokyo Cuisine3050 W Shaw Ave # 112 Fresno, CA (559) 275-7535
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