Ma Maison @ Mandarin Gallery

It's been a while since the girls met up. The last time we were together (minus A) was in Kota Kinabalu after an arduous trek down the mountain in the pouring rain!

V dropped by Singapore for a meeting so S and I decided we shall bring her out to get some thick slabs of Tonkatsu. Sad to say, it's hard to get this size and flavourful Tonkatsu back home. Ma Maison is the most strategically placed Tonkatsu on Orchard Road. Walking distance from MRTs (both Orchard and Somerset), quiet upmarket mall (where sales assistants snob you) and near enough to get home by cab without burning a hole in our pockets.

Tonkatsu is opened by the Ma Maison group and as the name states, Japanese Pork Cutlets rule the menu. There are of course jumbo fried prawns and seafood but hey, it's the breaded pork baby! The cuts available are primarily fillet (I think its the tenderloin) or loin. I normally go for the fillet as it is easier to chew compared to trying to chew through layers of fat. The items priced on the menu go according to the type of cut and weight of that cut.
Dinner starts off with grated radish as an appetizer. A way to eat grated radish is to eat it with your meal so that it rids the oily taste in your mouth. Cleanse the palate.

It is pricer than other Tonkatsu places but the free flow of thinly sliced cabbage, the to-die-for Tonjiru style (pork miso soup) and rice (mixed grain or white) makes it all worth while. I'm in no way a glutton but honestly the soup makes everything all right in the world again. I gone through 3 bowls of konnyaku, pork, radish, burdock, and leek before S told me to stop.

V opted for the Mameton which has a little of everything - jumbo prawns, hire katsu (pork fillet) and rosu katsu (pork loin). She was quite pleased with the portions and worked her way steadily through. HY had the same set and could not finish it!

S took a rosu katsu set with radish on top (name escapes for me for the moment) and I took the hire katsu (120g). Every piece of pork was breaded evenly before frying. No stink of oil on the pork at all. Yummy, and chewy katsu. Anyway, we chewed and chewed... the girls managed to whittle their mountain of cabbage whereby I ate half and decided that my mouth was tired wrestling with shredded vegetable.

A great way to eat the gorgeous pork is to dip it into sea salt and pop it into your mouth. None of the soya sauce nonsense that covers up the taste of the pork.


Apart from Kurobuta which is the staple for most katsu places, Ma Maison boasts of serving Hungary Mangalica pig. It's a type of furry pig native to Hungary. I did not manage to try that species of pig as it is one of the more expensive sets on the menu. How would fur look on a pig? Look below. I think it looks like a ram got jiggy with a sow and this was the result.

After dinner, we were all given a complimentary dessert which tasted slightly like citrus konyakku jelly. It felt refreshing after all that protein

Oh and BTW, did I mention that there is free refill for tea?

Tonkatsu Ma Maison
Address: 333A Orchard Road,  #02-35/36 Mandarin Gallery
Opening Hours : 11am-3pm and 5pm-10pm
No reservations
Tel: 6733 4541
Price : $$ (worth every penny!)