Hako

Since late 2018, Irvine’s Northpark neighborhood has been home to Hako, a Japanese-style restaurant focusing on panko crumb-fried katsu cutlets and sushi rolls. Located doors down from Boba Square, Tasty Spot Cafe, and the Korean supermarket Zion Market, Hako always seems to have a line outside and on benches, but that’s not a major problem: The tablet-based waitlist moves surprisingly quickly thanks to efficient service, and some people turn out to be waiting for Hako’s oversized takeout boxes, which make a (good) first impression with hungry guests outside.

Inside, Hako is minimalist: wood tables and chairs, tile floors and walls, and a sparingly decorated kitchen/beverage counter are barely enough to grab attention given the brisk pace of service once you’re seated. A placemat-sized menu lists all its options on one side: pork, chicken, fish, ground beef, and cheese/pork katsu dishes from $15 to $18, sushi rolls from $7 to $14, six noodle (udon/soba) dishes for $11 to $16, and a column of mostly deep-fried appetizers and vegetarian or pescatarian salads from $4 to $11. Fans of Japanese food will find zero surprises here, except that the prices all remain blissfully 2023-ish, and there’s no nigiri sushi; most of the rolls are American-style (see: crunch, tiger dragon, California rolls) rather than authentically Japanese.

Katsu is Hako’s star attraction for a reason: It’s a large portion. The curry tonkatsu ($18) arrives as a set with a peanutty house katsu sauce, rice, strong miso soup, dressing-topped shredded cabbage, pickled radishes and jalapenos, plus a giant, pre-sliced pork cutlet and a side bowl of either plain or spicy curry. While we wouldn’t call the spicy curry particularly hot, the thick, tender cutlet’s panko breading offered a perfect counterbalance of crunch, and all of the set’s items were quite filling. Notably, four-piece gyoza or California roll sides can be added to any katsu or noodle dish for only $3 more.