Kagoshima's Kawakyu

The first restaurant we tried as we arrived in Kagoshima was Kawakyu as Kagoshima is known for its kurobuta (black pork).

Kawakyu serves a variety of dishes that center around donkatsu, and although it is more mainly known for its roast katsu type I went for a katsu-don instead, as I find cooking katsu-don at home in particular takes hours. You have to make the donkatsu which requires flour, egg, panko, oil, and frying then later have to do more on top of that with pouring the egg over the prepared meat, AND THEN serve it over rice- too much work. So I always tell friends to order katsudon whenever they feel the desire to eat it as cooking it takes an ordeal and cleaning the kitchen is even longer.

En route to Kawakyu you'll catch sight of the Amu Plaza Kagoshima since they have a huge ferris wheel which you can ride if you choose to as you enter the mall.

At the time it seemed like the area was going through a renovation, and so Kawaykyu might be a bit hard to spot, but just vigilantly look for a white sign that says: とんかつ川久

My travel partner had ordered the roast katsu variety and I feel my choice was a bit better since hers was a lot bigger in portion and didn't skimp on the fat- while that certainly is a preference for some people it would definitely have been a bit difficult for me to finish. Also something I'd like to note is that the pork might be "pink" although cooked- this is not uncommon in Japan and is safe to eat so please do not be alarmed if you order a roast katsu and find it to be a little pink!

I feel it is appropriate that I use a GIF for the first time on my blog on my katsudon.

And another reminder to visitors to Kagoshima is that the doors of the taxis are automatically opened so please do not pry them open upon arrival or shut after getting out.