An unforgettable tonkatsu dinner at Ton-kyu in Takadanobaba, Tokyo

Visiting Japan is incomplete without trying tonkatsu; a breaded and deep fried pork cutlet.

There are a lot of great tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo, but today we’ll share our exquisite tonkatsu dinner experience at Ton-kyu,a local tonkatsu restaurant in Takadanobaba, Tokyo.

Also known as a student town, Takadanobaba is home to several tonkatsu restaurants, and amongst those restaurants,Ton-kyu is highly ranked and recommended by locals.

Located in the basement of a building near Takadanobaba Station, this restaurant is accessible on foot.

Known for its great quality pork cuts, Ton-kyu offers several different tonkatsu menus,
and today we decided to order the most expensive tonkatsu: kurobuta rosu katsu teishoku (black pork loin cutlet set 180g),
tokusen hire teishoku (special fillet cutlet set 155g), and mix fry teishoku (fillet cutlet, deep-fried breaded shrimp, and deep-fried breaded fish).

All menus are served together with thinly sliced cabbage, a small portion of Neapolitan spaghetti,
and a cup of miso soup or tonjiru (pork-based miso soup. We also ordered kaki fry (deep-fried breaded oysters) to munch on,
and we liked them so much because the oysters were so thick, juicy, and fresh.

The mix fry set included a small cut of pork fillet cutlet, a small cut of deep-fried breaded fish, and a huge piece of deep-fried breaded shrimp.

You can eat these dishes with tartar sauce, karashi (Japanese mustard), or tonkatsu sauce.

The deep-fried breaded fish was juicy, soft, and fluffy,
and the pork fillet cutlet was a mille-feuille pork fillet cutlet; it was made by rolling thinly-sliced pork fillet and breaded it before deep-frying it.

The special pork fillet cutlet served using the highest-quality fillet cut, and it’s less fattening compared to the pork loin cutlet.

Unlike the normal pork fillet cutlet, the special pork fillet cutlet was coated and breaded thinner.

The texture of the pork fillet was also softer and fluffier.
The last one is the kurobuta pork loin cutlet, which was made using a brand variety of black pork.

The pork loin cutlet was not only thick, but also soft, juicy, and fluffy.

Even though the pork cut had a lot of fat, it tasted gentle and was not too heavy for our stomach too.
Try to eat the pork cutlet with ponzu sauce and grated daikon, and you’ll notice the difference!

Ton-kyu

Address

B1F, 1-26-5 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Google Map

https://goo.gl/maps/ucnHgyH5wUd7Ns1i7

Open

throughout the year

Business hours

11:00 – 21:40 (weekdays) and 11:00 – 21:00 (weekends and national holidays)

http://tonkyu.com/