If you ain’t into beef, @thegyuco still has options for you. The Buta Kakuni Don is the only non deep-fried pork option on the menu, and it’s a deeply decadent dish (or bowl in this case).⠀

Four thick slices of braised pork belly are accompanied by a soft boiled egg on a bed of rice & sautéed veggies. The Gyu Co really lays the braising sauce on, and the bowl of rice was incredibly saucy & umami thanks to the soy based broth. The braised pork bellies were utterly awesome, as they had been braised low and slow till they fell apart with ease. I’m not joking, spearing one slice with a fork would cause it to fall apart quite easily. Due to that long braise in the unctuous broth, the pork belly was deeply sapid and free of its natural porky musk.⠀

Alas, I must admit, the pork belly had too much fat for me to handle. The braising process that had instilled all that flavour into the thick slabs of pork belly had rendered out a good amount of the pork fat into the broth, resulting in an indecently fatty broth. Add that to the fat still on the belly, and my arteries were squeezing in protest as I chewed on the last belly. Still incredibly delicious though, I can’t deny that.⠀

The vegetables provided really endeared themselves to me. Normally other Japanese food merchants would just slap a leaf of lettuce on their donburi & call it a day, but The Gyu Co care enough to serve a healthy amount of sautéed shredded cabbage & sliced onions beneath the meat & egg. Not only did the veg alleviate a bit of the guilt of this dish, it supplied the crucial textural variation that made this Buta Kakuni Don such a delight to devour. All the soft textures from the meat & rice balanced out by slightly crunchy veg? Oh yeah, we’ve got a winner right here.

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