Noah in Tokyo: Back-alley Tonkatsu

Hi everybody,

Apologies for the hiatus, Noah was not actually inTokyo for the holidays. But I am back, and committed to more rambling musings and pictures of food than ever!

Anyways, I love Shinjuku, it might be my favorite station here in Tokyo. As much as I love and am loyal to Nishikawaguchi (it really is fantastic), if I ever ended up with more money than I knew what to do with it would be hard to turn down the idea of a Shinjuku penthouse. The place is busy and full and bright and everything I like about a place

And that's not even a very good picture--I was there at a weird time, so missing from this picture are the wall-to-wall crowds of people rushing by. I've gotten to know this station pretty well by the simple expedient of literally dozens of hours spent wandering aimlessly about. Which is how I discovered that if you duck down the right back alley and look for a nondescript shop without neon lights or brightly painted signs, you come to an absolutely stellar tonkatsu shop . . .

[edit: Went back and checked, the name of the restaurant is Ouroji. It's amazing. Go eat there, so delicious]

They do their tonkatsu in hearty Edo style (for those of you that remember my discussion in my post about Tempura Iseya). The pork is not pounded flat to give it an elegant appearance. The panko breadcrumbs are not dusted across it to give it a light and airy texture. This is simply a large chunk of pork that is coated in a thick batter, both of which contribute to some of the most tender and flavorful pork you have ever eaten

Their full course is not cheap (1,750yen), although I have splurged and it's totally worth it. Some of the best tonkatsu I've had in town. However, if you've been reading this blog you've probably guessed where this is going . . . lunch teishoku!

At lunchtime, for the still-pretty-high-but-not-terrible price of 1000 yen you can get their tonkatsu curry donburi. Take one giant oblong spheroid of pork loin, cut it into three slices, put it on top of rice, and cover it in curry sauce. A recipe for delicious, delicious lunch. Or a recipe to get me to fall in love with you. I'm pretty simple like that

Apologies for the awful picture quality. I was in a hurry to start eating

Giant pots of housemade tonkatsu sauce and spicy mustard? Yes please

Oh and by the way, while I was gone there were a few culinary cravings weighing heavily on my mind. Ramen was one, and don't worry I scratched that itch immediately upon my return. The other two were curry and tonkatsu though, so it was quite fitting I managed to get both in . . .

Seriously, this was just a day of terrible picture quality, I'm sorry. But dude it was so delicious

Cannot recommend this place highly enough. But then again, I've always been a sucker for good tonkatsu

P.S. They also have a tonkatsu sandwich on the menu for 1000 yen. That would have to be a pretty mind-blowingly good sandwich to be worth $10. Only one way to find out . . .

Noah out

edit: It was definitely the best tonkatsu sandwich I've ever had. Mind-blowingly? Maybe. Worth 10 bucks? Ehh . . . that's tough to say. But delicious nonetheless