Tokyo’s “Delicious Tonkatsu” restaurants.

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This page introduces “tonkatsu restaurants” in Tokyo that hossie found very tasty.

9 restaurants in Tokyo that serve delicious tonkatsu

ぽん多本家(台東区)
Ponta Honke (Taito-ku, Tokyo)
Uenohirokoji, Okachimachi, Yushima/Tonkatsu, Western cuisine

This is a long-established tonkatsu restaurant that reminds us that “this is where it all started” after eating at many different restaurants.
Lunch: ¥4,000~¥4,999 Dinner: ¥5,000~¥5,999
とんかつ七井戸(渋谷区)
Tonkatsu Nanaiido (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
Gaienmae, Omotesando, Meijijingumae/Tonkatsu

Established in 2018, the restaurant was quickly listed in the Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand.
Lunch: ¥1,000~¥1,999
とん(中央区)
Tonki (Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Ginza, Yurakucho/Tonkatsu/Katsudon

It is a rare gem that allows you to finish the dish with the same sensation as the first bite, without feeling the fatty taste of katsudon.
Lunch: ¥1,000~¥1,999 Dinner: ¥1,000~¥1,999
とんかつ 銀座梅林(中央区)
Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin (Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Ginza/Tonkatsu, Katsu-don (pork cutlet and pork cutlet served on top of a bowl of rice)

A famous restaurant in Ginza along with Tonki. Pork and half-boiled egg mix together in the mouth to create an indescribable taste.
Lunch: ¥2,000~¥2,999 Dinner: ¥2,000~¥2,999
Katsuプリポー(新宿区)
Katsu Pripoh (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
Shinjuku / Tonkatsu, Katsu-don (pork cutlet and pork cutlet served on top of a bowl of rice)

This restaurant offers delicious filet tonkatsu that you won’t find anywhere else.
Lunch: ¥3,000~¥3,999 Dinner: ¥6,000~¥7,999
まるやま食堂(大田区)
Maruyama Shokudo(Ota-ku, Tokyo)
Keikyu Kamata/Tonkatsu

One of Kamata’s top three tonkatsu restaurants. It is a restaurant that combines quality, cost, and volume.
Lunch: ¥1,000~¥1,999 Dinner: ¥1,000~¥1,999
とんかつ檍 蒲田本店(大田区)
Aoki Kamata Honten(Ota-ku, Tokyo)
Kamata, Keikyu Kamata / Tonkatsu, Katsu-don (pork cutlet and pork cutlet served on top of a bowl of rice)

One of Kamata’s top three tonkatsu restaurants. The meat is juicy and tasty without being oily. It is also a good value for money restaurant.
Lunch: ¥1,000~¥1,999 Dinner: ¥2,000~¥2,999
丸一(大田区)
Maruichi (Ota-ku, Tokyo)
Keikyu Kamata, Kamata/Tonkatsu,Katsu-don (pork cutlet and pork cutlet served on top of a bowl of rice)

One of Kamata’s top three tonkatsu restaurants. It has a symbolic presence even in Kamata, which is crowded with popular restaurants.
Lunch: ¥1,000~¥1,999 Dinner: ¥2,000~¥2,999
とんかつ成蔵(杉並区)
Tonkatsu Narikura (Suginami-ku, Tokyo)
Minami Asagaya, Asagaya/Tonkatsu
The white tonkatsu was a shocking experience that I still can’t forget. My concept of tonkatsu was overturned when I went to this restaurant.
Lunch: ¥5,000~¥5,999 Dinner: ¥5,000~¥5,999

About the origin of tonkatsu and the restaurant where it originated

Tonkatsu has its roots in the Western-style “cutlet” dish that became popular in Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912).
The word “katsuletsu” is a corruption of the English word “cutlet,” which originally referred to the meat on the bone of sheep or beef, and from there came to refer to a dish made by coating lamb or beef and baking it in butter.
It is said that “cutlet” was created by Motojiro Kida of the long-established Western-style restaurant “Rengatei” established in 1895, and there is a theory that tonkatsu also originated at Rengatei.

On the other hand, another theory that “this is the original” is that a chef named Shinjiro Shimada, who was a chef at Ponchiken in Ueno Okachimachi, is the originator of this dish.
Mr. Shimada, who was in charge of Western cuisine at the Imperial Household Agency, is said to have evolved from “pork cutlet,” a thin piece of meat coated in batter and stir-fried, to “tonkatsu,” a thick piece of meat deep-fried like tempura.
Mr. Shimada was also the founder of “Ponta Honke” in 1905, and his taste has been passed down to the present day.
Ponchiken” has a restaurant of the same name in Kanda Ogawamachi, but this restaurant opened in 2012 and is unrelated to “Ponchiken,” the birthplace of tonkatsu.

Today, there are many famous tonkatsu restaurants in various parts of Japan, such as Kamata Gosanke, Narikura in Minami Asagaya, and Marugo in Akihabara, but there used to be many famous tonkatsu restaurants in Ueno.
When I was young, the three most famous tonkatsu restaurants in Ueno were “Ponta Honke,” “Futaba,” and “Horaiya,” and I was able to visit all of them, but Futaba went out of business around 2012.
I often found that the restaurant was closed even if I visited there, but it seems that they had a policy of “not opening the restaurant on days when good meat is not available.
It was a great restaurant full of craftsmanship.
I would like to try their tonkatsu again, but it is a wish that will never come true.

If the administrator had to choose one pork cutlet restaurant, this is the one to go to.

I am sometimes asked by acquaintances, “Which tonkatsu is the best?”
This is sometimes a difficult question to answer.
This is because everyone has different tastes in food, and what may be the best restaurant for me may not be so for others.
For this reason, I do not ask the question, “Which restaurant is the best? I try to answer, “This is the restaurant that best suits my taste.
In the case of tonkatsu, that restaurant is “Ponta Honke” in Ueno.
Ponta Honke is the only restaurant where I can feel the history and tradition that no other restaurant can surpass, as well as the pressure and spirit of a long-established tonkatsu restaurant.

Ponta Honke: 3-23-3 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo

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