Tokyo Tonkatsu

We had just taken a wander down Harajuku Street in search of the cosplay girls – unfortunately we didn’t come across many weird and wonderful costumes, but we did manage to track down a fantastic Tonkatsu restaurant not far away.

Maisen has the reputation of serving up some of the best Tonkatsu in Tokyo, and it was certainly popular when we visited. We had to sit and wait around twenty minutes for a table, despite the large capacity of this restaurant - although the front of the restaurant has counter-style dining, through the back this former public bathhouse offers a cavernous dining area.

Once finally seated we ploughed through the extensive menu. Maisen provides this deep fried delicacy in every which way, including a choice of different cuts of pork with each option – luckily we had a Japanese friend with us to translate or we would have been there even longer trying to figure it all out.

I couldn’t resist trying out the kurobuta - it’s what the place is famous for after all – and while Mr Greedy Glutton opted to have his served straight up, I chose the special of the day which had my Tonkatsu accompanied by a selection of interesting dishes.



As good as each accompanying dish was (I have no idea what half of them were, but I didn’t have any complaints about any of them), the highlight was undoubtedly the famous Tonkatsu – the pork was thick, juicy and meltingly tender, the breadcrumb coating crisp and light – and smothered with the sweet, tangy Tonkatsu sauce, it was just heavenly.



So if you find yourself in Tokyo with a Tonkatsu craving, you could do a lot worse than head to Maisen – it really does deserve the reputation that precedes it.

Maisen - 4-8-5 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku