Planning for Japan: Tonkatsu

Maisen, (03) 3470-00714-8-5 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku
Any argument over which restaurant in Tokyo serves the best tonkatsu—Japan’s beloved plate of deep-fried pork cutlet, rice and cabbage—should end with Maisen. The restaurant has made an obsession of perfecting a dish that is usually cooked quickly as standard daily grub. The secret to Maisen’s success is that cutlets can be doused in one of three tangy sauces brewed on the premises. Our favourite is a fruity concoction served with the house special, a delicious cutlet made from kurobuta, a black hog from Kagoshima. JH prefers the ‘rosu’ cut, which is fattier - but the ‘hire’ or fillet cut is also good. This large, crowded restaurant is tucked away in a converted old bath-house off the main Omotesando drag. Be prepared to wait at least 20 minutes for a table and expect to sit on the floor. If you hit the weekend rush and the queue seems too daunting, buy one of the superb tonkatsu sandwiches from the Maisen stand outside the restaurant. Oh and Maisen has a booth at Shinjuku's Takashimaya depachika.

http://members.aol.com/maisenpr/
http://www.metropolis.co.jp/tokyorestaurantsarchive249/245/contents.html
http://eatbma.blogspot.com/2006/07/maisen-tonkatsu-harajuku.html

Tonki

1-1 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku
This is the other famous tonkatsu institution in Tokyo. They do only one thing and do it well. You'll probably have to wait for a seat at the counter, but it's worth it. Choose between hirekatsu (a filet cut of lean pork) or the rosukatsu (a loin cut, with some fat on it). Kushi-katsu (skewered pork with onions) is also available. Teishoku, the set meal, features soup, rice, cabbage, pickled vegetable, and tea.

The man will scribble your order on a piece of paper and put it with all the other scraps of paper, miraculously keeping track of not only which order belongs to whom but also which customers have been waiting for seats the longest. The open kitchen behind the counter takes up most of the space in the restaurant, and as you eat you can watch the half-dozen or so cooks scrambling to turn out orders -- never a dull moment, and in my opinion one of the highlights of dining here. You can get free refills of tea, rice, and cabbage.