May 2, 2013

What you should not miss in Japan: Tonkatsu!!

Hi everyone.

Sushi is probably the most famous Japanese cuisine. Of course you should definitely eat it while staying in Japan, but there are many other foods I'd like to recommend you. One of such things is とんかつ(tonkatsu), or deep-fried breaded pork cutlet. If you have no problem with meat (or pork), I'm sure you will love it. Seriously, I haven't met foreigners who don't like it.

This is the tonkatsu I ate the other day! Ah, it was so delicious. The meat was very tender and juicy, and the breading was super crispy.


There are two main types of meat you can choose : ひれ(hire, fillet) or ロース(rosu、or loin, sirloin). This time I chose "hire, " which is less fatty than rosu.  Rosu meat is normally cut into several pieces with knife after being fried, while "hire" is first cut and then fried as you can see in the photo above.

Tonkatsu is served with a lot of shredded cabbage to refresh your mouth. At many tonkatsu restaurants, you can ask for as much cabbage as you want.

The place I had this tonkatsu is pretty popular but very small with only eight seats on the counter (no tables). My husband and I arrived there around 11:45 a.m. but the restaurant had been already full. We waited for 15 minutes to get seated and another 20 minutes to be served. But it is worth visiting.

What I had was ひれかつ定食(hire-katsu teishoku, Fillet cutlet set). It was 1,600 yen including a big bowl of rice, トン汁(tonjiru, pork and vegi soup) and some pickles.

The name the restaurant is たいよう (Taiyo) written in all hiragana.
address: 3-22-7 Koyama, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
tel: (03)3786-1464
Open 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; 5:30-8:30 p.m., closed Mondays & Fridays


That's how it looks outside. As there's no place to wait inside, people line up outside. If you eat there, why don't you walk to the well-known Musashi Koyama Shopping Arcade, the second longest shopping street with a roof in Japan? It takes only 5 minutes. It is neither fancy nor touristy. It is just the place local people shop and eat. Whether you find it interesting or not, that is completely up to you!!



I was thinking of listing up the nice tonkatsu chains in Tokyo, but I have to stop here, because I'm getting really sleepy. I'll give you further information in the next post...sorry.

Today's useful expression: どのぐらい 待ちますか? Donogura machimasuka?
meaning: how long do we have to wait? 
You can use this expression when you see people lining up in front of the restaurant. 


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