Kayo’s Ramen Bar Expands With Tonkatsu Food Cart

Kayo’s Ramen Bar on North Williams Avenue serves one of the best bowls of ramen in the city, and today, it opens the Kayo’s Tonkatsu food cart, with a entirely new menu featuring bento boxes, hot dog katsu, and tonkatsu sandwiches (see the full lineup below). The menu is focused, with only a handful of items — the most expensive of which is an $8 bento box. Even with the small menu, Kayo’s doesn’t leave out those with vegetarian and gluten-free diets, offering veggie kebabs and tofu katsu.

Perhaps the most intriguing item is the $4 hot dog katsu. At Kayo’s Tonkatsu, the Japanese-American fusion dish takes the form of a Panko-coated all-natural pork weiner that’s dolloped with curry and deep-fried. The cart’s namesake dish — a pork cutlet that’s also Panko-coated and deep-fried — comes in either bento box or sandwich form, and the sauce selection includes nine choices, ranging from pineapple and citrus soy to black bean or wasabi.

Find Kayo’s Tonkatsu at 3625 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., at the intersection of MLK and Northeast Beech Street. The cart currently serves lunch Monday through Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it plans to add dinner hours within the next week or two. Find its current hours by calling 971.203.1048 or checking its Instagram.

Here’s the opening day food and drink menu:

Kayo’s Tonkatsu

• Kayo’s Tonkatsu [Official Facebook]
• Kayo’s Ramen Bar [Official]
• All Previous Kayo’s Ramen Bar Coverage [EPDX]