3.5 stars
If someone opens up a tonkatsu restaurant in Japan, the owner is convinced that their tonkatsu is fucking awesome and the best around. While there's certainly no market for upscale $30+ tonkatsu meals on the corner of Jones and Robindale, Tonkatsu Kiyoshi does a decent job of breading, frying and serving meat. They're definitely the best around...since they're the only place around!!
My wife got the hire (pork) katsu dinner which was better than the ebi (shrimp) katsu. The shrimp was quite large which was a plus. I went with the ebi just to have a variety but I should have just gotten the other pork option (Rosu). After all, there's a pig on the freakin sign so that should give you some hints on what to order. The meal comes with miso soup, rice and a little onion.
After you grind the sesame seeds, transfer the amount you'd like into the black dish with the sauce, don't put the sauce directly into the grinding bowl. That's the wrong way to do it and you limit the size of the piece you dip by using the small bowl. I noticed several people doing this while we were there.
The quality of their pork is better than Japanese Curry Zen and they give a substantial amount more. I plan on trying the katsu curry next time for sure and I'll be ready to bump it up a star or two if the curry is great.