This tonkatsu restaurant, located less than 10 minutes’ walk from Jiyugaoka Station, looks unremarkable on the surface, sporting a nondescript entrance and a rudimentary, functional interior. But all that is immaterial when you see the textbook tonkatsu that the kitchen churns out.
Tonkatsuya Sato is known for its use of coarse panko breadcrumbs in the coating for a fuller and crispier mouthfeel. The pork cutlets are fried to a mouth-watering golden goodness and, more importantly, are dry on the outside, without a lick of grease. The meat, on the other hand, remains beautifully tender and juicy. With the set meal, you’ll get a big pile of fresh and crisp sliced cabbage on the side as relief from all that meatiness, plus rice, pickles and miso soup.
As always when it comes to tonkatsu, you have a choice of rosu and hire – the former is the fattier loin with more flavour while the latter fillet is leaner and milder in flavour. Tonkatsuya Sato offers both in a few different qualities of pork, including the premium SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) Peach Pork from Towadako Kogen Farm in Akita prefecture.
The finest thick-cut loin (250g) set meal will set you back ¥3,000 while the top-shelf fillet set meal (three pieces, 150g) costs ¥2,800. However, even the regular loin set meal is good enough and priced at only ¥1,400, which is a good deal for a Michelin Bib Gourmand-rated restaurant.
Somewhat unusual for a tonkatsu specialist, Tonkatsuya Sato also offers deep-fried chicken cutlets. As such, you can get a mixed cutlet set meal of pork, chicken and minced pork for ¥2,000. The menu also lists an a la carte selection of cutlets on their own.
Tonkatsuya Sato has irregular closed days – check its Instagram for the monthly schedule.
