Tonki — Restaurant in Tokyo

This is a repeated visit for me. I am so glad to learn that Tonki is still doing great after Covid19.

The layout has not changed since my last visit years ago. This is an institution for Tonkatsu, the benchmark of excellence and great value for money. It is a short walk from the Meguro train station, down the slope and a left turn later, you will find the restaurant.

When I walked into the restaurant, I was looking forward to see a few of the "older" staff who have probably worked for decades in the restaurant. I remembered an elderly chef who would picked up piping hot freshly fried Tonkatsu with his bare hands before cutting them into bite sizes.

I thought that I recognize a few of them but I am not too sure as they were having their masks on. I have also found new staff, notable a young and elderly lady serving the table. The restaurant works like clockwork ~ one section for the soup, pickle, another for preparations, one for frying, the cashier along the counter. The menu remains the simple one and during the trip, I asked for the Rose (Rohsu) - the more fatty cut.

After I stepped into the restaurant, I took a seat, waiting. One of the staff asked me for my order and I placed mine without much hassle.

After a while, I was directed to my seat. The difference I recognized was the clear (mobile) plastic shields that they have installed during Covid. Before I sat down, I hanged up my jacket on the wall behind. I took a basket near the wall and placed my bag into it. It was simple but well thought out customer service.

The service was quick from the new young Japanese lady who promptly placed the sides in front me. I was served freshly cut cabbage, a serving of pickled vegetables, a bowl of pork based soup and a bowl of rice. The star of the meal "the Rohsu" cut was served, in bite sizes. There was this rich aroma of batter and fatty pork that greeted you. Through the cuts, we can see the white pork glistening under the light. This was such a pleasant sight. The condiments were nicely arranged and a cup of hot tea was served too.

I drizzled the brown sauce over the cabbage and started eating. For the cabbage, it was fresh, crunchy and sweet. In fact, it was so good, I took extra servings from the attentive lady staff. For the rice, I sprinkled some chilli powder on one side.

The pickled vegetable was standard but the best supporting actor of the meal must go to the lovely bowl of soup. I think that it was brewed in miso and pork essence ~ of course, I would have missed out many other important ingredients. There were a few generous chunks of fatty meat floating in the soup. My first bite of these floating meat left me astounded and so comforted. I could eat these without teeth, they kinda melted. In Japan, many have shared about the melting of "wagyu beef" but this is the good standard of melting pork goodness in a bowl. What could be better than this bowl is that you can ask for more. This has raised my expectations for the fried pork cutlet (Tonkatsu) significantly.

The Tonkatsu was served with a dash of mustard and this adds an important bite and "spice" to the meat. The batter was crispy, light and not overwhelming. The pork within has a nice mix of lean and fat. Despite the deep frying, the pork has remained juicy, dripping with fats and it takes little effort to chew. The batter, mustard and pork played important roles to ensure that the bite comprised of a slight crunch, fat, spice, meat and her accompanying meat juice.

I ate, marveled at their ability to balance batter, juicy meat in such fine craftsmanship. The meat is tender with its original flavour being pronounced, not masked. The ratio of the batter to meat was good, sufficient for a crunch and yet the quality of the meat and the chef shined through.

Beyond the excellent food that they have delivered, the staff were attentive, quick to respond and it was a pleasant experience.

HIGHLY...

Dear San Franciscan,

After watching Mark Wiens and dreaming of juicy Tonkatsu, my feet took me here. Its about 50 mins from Haneda Airport. Follow Google Map, make a right turn under the Big Echo Red sign. Enter!

Stayed at First floor, (hang your jacket & backpack - but it’ll smell like fried pork after you’re done) or go upstairs.

If you look silly, they’ll give you English menu, just point the one 2nd option (one with fatty) it’s 1900 Yen per set menu.

Got there at 5.25 pm so it’s right in time for dinner, it gets crowded but not crazy crowded. I drolled as I waited since I had to witness too many plates served, but it never mine. Until 25 mins later.

It looked golden crispy but wasn’t like super perfect like those fancier breadcrumbs. But I was marveled by the juiciness, melt in my mouth effect. 3 seconds later I realized I picked the Fatty ones. Oh well... but it was worth the wait & experience.

The sauces: Mustard - hella too spicy for me. Tonkatsu sauce - yes! In cold night like this, it adds good flavor. Don’t forget to sprinkle some chili powder on the rice too!

Drink tea, warm tea, to wash away those fats. Pay cash! Although they accept credit card too! The older chef had a hard time using the machine, he happen to did it in front of me for other guest and had to call younger chef assistant for help. So I thought, I’ll just pay cash.

Mark Wiens said this is the oldest Tonkatsu restaurant. He went to 2 restaurant, I only went to this one. Then off to Tokyo Station for same menu to compare. In my honest opinion, the cut I choose had fatty and made that soft tender affect when you bite. When you go to other place, what really makes this place stands out is its simplicity. It’s like the In & Out burger (without the option of choosing meat grade), just enjoy.

You may wonder why they served those unending thinly sliced green cabbage. Well, coz you’re eating fried food silly! The cabbage is high in fiber, helps our digestion, keeps inflamation down, vitamin K, calcium, potassium and all those good stuff we need. So, if you can still chew that down, take em. This way you’ll be able to enjoy plenty more of foods while you visit...

Tonki is a famous restaurant serving tonkatsu located in Meguro area. This area is particularly famous for its sakura river view. Located around 3 minutes walk from the JR Meguro station, Tonki serve the popular cutlets of breaded, deep fried pork. The restaurant looks simple from outside but once you slide open the wooden doors, duck under the short noren curtain and step inside, you will realize that this restaurant will give you different experience of dining. You will be amazed kitchen area located in a large hall with only one horseshoe single long counter running three sides with no tables. The kitchen area are open and spacious. When you dine here, not only you have good pork sirloin tonkatsu but you also feel the environment of how the way people dined back in 1939 when Tonki was founded. The place is run like a factory production line. I know this place is going to get crowded so I arrived early at around 5.30pm. I get a seat as soon I entered the restaurant. By the time reached 6.00pm, people already start queuing at the back.

The choice in Tonki is simple. You choose either rohsu-katsu teishoku (fatty pork) or hire-katsu teishoku (lean pork) which is their most popular dishes. I choose the fatty pork version as I like the pork to be tender and moist. What makes the tonkatsu here different from other restaurant is they use whole piece of pork sirloin then double dipped in egg mixture before dipping in bread crumb coating and covered by another layer of egg mixture.

The meat here were tender and moist. I am surprised of very little oiliness on the pork and on the bread crumb coating. The meat is whole piece of pork sirloin and firm with slight layer of fat. The original pork taste were maintained although the meat were fried. The soup provided is delicious as well. The Japanese are very well thought in their diet. Since having a whole piece of meat is considered a lot, the meal compliment with free refill of shredded cabbage to make up the lack of vegetable...