Is it just me or has Vic Park quietly assumed the title of Perth’s ground zero for tonkatsu?

That’s not to say tonkatsu – that is, the Japanese soul food classic of breaded and fried pork cutlets – is a recent arrival in the neighbourhood.

Well-established Japanese restaurants in Vic Park such as Senoji and Kabuki have long served tonkatsu to guests, while dog-friendly Japanese café Inuha Cafe offers tonkatsu in sandwich format: a popular way of enjoying the dish in Japan and around the world.

Late last year, specialist katsu and tempura restaurant Katen announced its arrival on Albany Highway with poppy splashes of colour and steady queues. The newest member of this porky fraternity is Katzu Katzu, a bijou eatery with a single-minded focus on deep-fried deliciousness.

Until December, this cosy space was known as Yuuma, a warm-hearted eatery whose menu featured Japanese classics as well as fancy, bigger-ticket items for those that felt like pushing out the boat: think rice bowls with wagyu and foie gras; the fatty tuna belly sashimi known as otoro, plus a set-course, chef’s selection omakase set menu.

The omakase menu was served at a counter where guests enjoyed facetime with Yuuma’s smiley owner Sean Hong, a Malaysian-born chef that’s cooked Japanese around town including a long stint at Nobu.

It’s Hong’s time at Nobu, I think, that speaks to the luxe ingredients that populated the Yuuma menu, not least the offer of a bento box with Nobu’s legendary miso-marinated cod.

The Peruvian-influenced squid and watermelon on the Katzu Katzu menu – a refreshing combination of lacey fried squid bodies arranged on cubes of cooling watermelon and dressed with white vinegar, red onion and chilli – is another nod to Hong’s Nobu era, although his version is far friendlier on the wallet than the original. While Hong might have learned his chops in casino-land, our man’s new gig is very much about accessibility.

“Tonkatsu is Japanese soul food,” says Hong.

“I want this to be a restaurant that people can come and eat at regularly.”

Despite Katzu Katzu’s egalitarian spirit, Hong is still committed to dotting the proverbial Is and crossings those all-important Ts.

The pork he uses, for instance, is a Berkshire pig raised in Corrigin. A breed with a high fat content, Berkshires are popular among those that make charcuterie. Berkshire pork is also prized by dedicated tonkatsu chefs for similar reasons with the breed referred to as kurobuta - Japanese for “black pig”, a reference to the Berkshire’s colour – in Japan. Hong emphasises the breed’s fattiness by leaving the fat cap on the loins before frying them, making for tonkatsu with an extra lush mouthfeel.

The panko crumb that is used to coat the pork is another point of difference with Hong and his team making their own panko from soft Japanese-style bread.

When cooked in a house blend of canola oil mixed with a little sesame oil (a detail, I suspect, which is as much about taste as it is lowering the smoking point of the oil) creates a golden cutlet with that all-important “furriness” one might associate with Maisen, Wako or any of Japan’s other top-tier tonkatsu chains.

A neat touch is having your (pre-sliced) tonkatsu served on a little tempura fry mesh that keeps the pork off the plate and, therefore, its bottom crisp.

The tonkatsu comes in a range of formats including sets with unlimited rice and cabbage; a top an egg omelette (katsudon); in a bowl dressed with curry sauce; and in a bowl with udon noodles.

A plus-sized “mega pork katsu don” featuring a cutlet cut extra-thick is also available, although considering how filling the standard-issue cutlet is, I wouldn’t recommend ordering one unless you smashed some sort of World CrossFit Games record. Other fried katsu options include chicken, prawn and vegetarian croquettes.

Part of the fun of eating at Katzu Katzu is, after ordering, being able to use a suribachi (a ceramic bowl with a rough, mortar-like surface) to grind black and white sesame seeds into a paste that you add fruity tonkatsu sauce too.

It’s a cute pre-dinner ritual and the sort of thing you might expect to find in a city’s unofficial home of tonkatsu.

Katzu Katzu (861 Albany Hwy, East Victoria Park) is open for lunch and dinner daily. katzukatzu.com.au