A note on the words: gyukatsu is a beef cutlet coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried quickly so the inside remains rare, zen refers to a complete set meal served on a tray, and akadashi is a rich, dark miso soup made with red soybean miso.
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Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu Harumi toriton ten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Today I had something to take care of and headed to Harumi Triton. Getting all the way to Harumi is actually pretty tricky. A bus might be best. Anyway, once I reached Harumi Triton I started looking around for a bite to eat, and found a gyukatsu (a beef cutlet, crumbed and deep-fried, usually served rare inside) shop, Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu. I thought I had seen Katsugyu somewhere before, and realized there is one in Yotsuya-sanchome! I have never been inside, but that is the branch that comes to mind when I hear the name. Thinking gyukatsu sounded nice for the first time in a while, I stepped inside!
Gyukatsu set — 990 yen
Beef loin katsu set — 1,490 yen
Mixed gyukatsu set — 1,450 yen
Grated-daikon ponzu gyukatsu set — 1,090 yen
Beef fillet katsu set — 1,990 yen
Apparently, if you add them as a friend on LINE, you can get free refills on rice, akadashi (a dark miso soup), and cabbage.
I wondered, does anyone actually add them on LINE just for this?? But then I thought if I can get refills of akadashi it might be worthwhile, so I registered, ha. If the effort to register and the later effort to mute or block them gets you refills, maybe it is a fair deal. When you show the LINE registration screen, they set up a “Member” placard for you… a bit embarrassing, really.
Since the cheapest lunch option was 990 yen, I chose that one.
After a short wait, the gyukatsu set arrived.
Hmm, from left to right: wasabi soy sauce (or rather, just soy sauce), sansho salt, and gyukatsu sauce.
Apparently, eating them in order from left to right is recommended. It seems obvious that sauce is ultimately best for gyukatsu, but since they were there, I tried one slice each with soy sauce and sansho salt. I dabbed on the wasabi sitting on the gyukatsu and then dipped into the soy sauce. Yes, I feel this is often how gyukatsu is eaten. The sansho salt, with its fragrant sansho aroma, also lets you eat it quite lightly.
And then, the sauce. This is the real winner. I feel it brings out the crumb coat, the sweetness of the beef, and the rice best of all!
Above all, nothing matches the rice quite like this! The hot, crisp crumb coating and rice are fantastic.
Since I went to the trouble of becoming a member, I got refills of cabbage and miso soup.
Completely full and satisfied.
This was my first time here, but at 990 yen this seems like a real bargain. It had been a while since I last had gyukatsu and it was delicious; Katsugyu apparently has over 15 locations in Tokyo alone, so it seems you can find them fairly easy to come across. Now that I know it is quite tasty, if I see one elsewhere, I might drop in again.
Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu Harumi toriton ten (Gyukatsu / Kachidoki Station, Tsukishima Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
