Tonkatsu Saboten, Shinjuku

2017/07/202017/01/01Leave a comment

While staying at the Park Hyatt, I found out there was tonkatsu available in a lower floor. Had to check it out!

I didn’t understand why I was given a stick in a tray, so I asked the staff. Turns out you use it to mix the sauce into the bowl with seeds.

Lots of cabbage.

Curry pork tonkatsu.

Combination pork tonkatsu and shrimp

It was ok. After Tonkatsu Maisen it’s hard to eat any other tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu Saboten
Shinjuku Park Tower B1F
3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku
Tokyo, Japan, 163-1055
http://www.shinjukuparktower.com/en/shops.shtml

Katsuhei, Tsukiji

2017/03/302017/01/01Leave a comment

Our friend brought us here. This was the first place where I realized I understood nothing about Japanese addresses. We found it by the three pigs.

She must know me well, as they have lots of good fried goodness.

I like tonkatsu, and this was fried well. The pork cutlet was normal in flavor and quality; what I liked about it was the flakiness and the fried texture.

I would go back if I was near.

Katsuhei
7-11-7 Tsukiji
Chuo 104-0045, Tokyo

Tonkatsu Maisen, Tokyu-Toyoko, Shibuya

2017/01/062017/01/01Leave a comment

I read about this place having good tonkatsu.

The restaurant looks unassuming.

On the menu, I noticed one page was devoted to black pig from some special location. It cost more than the usual pork cutlet, and it pretty much had one page all to itself. I ordered it. It came with a sweet plum sauce, and came on a wire mesh tray unlike the normal tonkatsu.

This was THE BEST tonkatsu I’ve ever had in my life. The meat really was better than the standard cutlet (which is already good), and the frying quality exceeded that from Katsuhei, which has a lighter crust that I also liked. I can see why this item is the only one on one menu page.

DAT SAUCE THO.

I think what really made it for me was not just the superior meat quality and masterful frying, but the way the sauce complemented and completed the dish. This sauce isn’t normally on the table, and didn’t come with the standard pork cutlet tonkatsu, which I tried at a later date.

The standard cutlet with Japanese curry. Though it was “standard”, it was still good. Better than CoCo Curry House of course. How is it that Japanese frying doesn’t feel all greasy like American frying?