Yumee Katsu in Orlando: Solid No-Frills Katsu
Katsu isn’t something I would usually eat at a restaurant because I find a lot of times the cuts of meat they use are thin or dry or both, and I just end up eating fried breading. But I was pleasantly surprised trying Yumee Katsu and everything was well balanced.
Assorted Pork Katsu Good
I wanted to try a little of everything so I got the combo platter that came with the pork katsu, fried shrimp, and a cheese cutlet. This place is kind of a mish-mash between Japanese food and Korean food. Katsu is popular in both countries and this place leans more into the Korean side, mainly because of the inclusion of kimchi and pickled daikon.
The pork katsu was good. I would definitely not let it sit very long since it is a lean cut of pork, but it was tender and not dry. Not super juicy but that’s just the nature of the cut itself. The fried shrimp was standard, nothing great or bad, and goes well with the side of tartar sauce.
The cheese katsu is something that is divisive for me. I am not a big fan of cheese so a big hockey puck of mozzarella isn’t my thing. I honestly expected it to be a combo of meat and cheese but nope, it is just straight up cheese. If you are into that then you will like this, it is basically a big mozzarella stick.
Sides
I really liked the thinly shredded cabbage salad with the citrusy sauce on the side. It helps cut down the richness of eating a plateful of fried food, and the tonkatsu sauce, which is a little sweet and sour using a Worcestershire base, adds some depth to the katsu which isn’t that flavorful on its own.
This is kind of an odd quirk of their ordering kiosk, but there’s an option to add soup, salad, or rice and it turns out you can just add all three. I was confused because I thought there would only be one side option. Just get all three unless you’re on a keto diet or something. The soup is good, just a little cup of dashi with some tempura flakes in there. Very savory and helps wash down the rest of the meal since rice and katsu doesn’t have a lot of moisture on its own.
Pork Katsu Curry Udon
My wife got the curry katsu udon and this was also good, not great. The tonkatsu is fried well and has a golden crunchy crust with a tender interior, which pairs nicely with the curry sauce. But it is still just standard Japanese curry, tasting similar to the S&B Golden Curry cubes you can find at the Asian grocery store. It does go well with the meat and noodles though. I wish the curry had some other stuff floating in there like onions, carrots, and potatoes.
I do have to roast their website though, because it is one of the worst restaurant websites I have ever come across. Their entire website is basically an online ordering system, but their stock images look like unfinished, unrendered areas from a video game that hasn’t finished loading its textures yet. I don’t understand it since they have perfectly fine photos of their actual food at the physical store, but the website images look waxy, oversaturated, and strangely artificial, like something is technically wrong with them that you can’t quite place until you look closely.
- ✓The katsu is crispy and tender.
- ✓The side salad is very refreshing.
- ✗Curry is very generic and plain.
Tips for Visiting
- Get the combo platter if you want to try the pork katsu, shrimp, and cheese cutlet in one go.
- Add all three sides since soup, salad, and rice can all be added together.
- Skip the cheese katsu unless you’re a genuine mozzarella stick enthusiast.
- The curry katsu udon is solid but don’t expect more than a Japanese curry cube base.
- Great for a quick solo lunch given the no-frills cafeteria style setup.
- Don’t judge the food by the website since the actual plates look nothing like the stock photos online.
