A note on the words: tonkatsu is a panko-breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, where rosu denotes pork loin and hire refers to the lean fillet. Tonjiru is a miso soup simmered with pork and vegetables, and nukazuke are vegetables pickled in a fermented rice bran bed.
Table of Contents hide
Tonkatsu Enraku on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. I had things to do around Ikegami and had some free time at a good moment, so I went looking for lunch! Previously I visited Tonkatsu Enraku in Ikegami, but hearing that there was another “Tonkatsu Enraku” near Chidoricho Station, I decided to go check it out. I wonder if they are related?
The Ikegami branch had quite a line, but here, it opens at 11:00 am and when I arrived about five minutes later, there were around three customers already seated. Lucky to get right in! The shop has three counter seats, a tatami seating area, and a single four-person table. It is not very big. It seems to be run by an elderly couple. The brisk, rhythmic chopping sound of the old man’s knife shredding cabbage is lovely. A very calming space.
Hire (fillet) / rosu (loin) katsu set — 2,300 yen
Fried shrimp set — 1,900 yen
Mixed set — 1,450 yen
Tonkatsu set — 1,450 yen
Hire katsudon — 1,550 yen
Katsudon — 1,100 yen
Katsu lunch — 1,070 yen
Mmm, they all look so good. But it is lunchtime right now, and there is the bargain katsu lunch. That makes it a no-brainer!
Waiting a short while…
Oh, looks delicious! Getting this for 1,070 yen makes the katsu lunch amazing, ha.
Sprinkling on a bit of pink salt and taking a bite, the sweetness of the pork stands out against the crunchy, craggy crust — delicious! Fried in lard rendered entirely from mesenteric fat, it is not heavy at all and goes down easily. That the meat runs right out to the edges is another big plus. With such a crunchy crust, you would normally think splashing on sauce, dabbing on plenty of mustard, and eating it with rice would be best, but the pork itself is so good that I kept eating it with just salt.
The house-made potato salad has the classic ingredients: onion, potato, and carrot. It is great that the potato is left in big chunks!
And the tonjiru (pork and vegetable miso soup) is packed with ingredients, thoroughly satisfying.
So getting this for 1,070 yen is pretty incredible. It seems the regular non-lunch sets come with house-made nukazuke (rice-bran pickles), so next time I would love to try the regular 2,300-yen hire or rosu. The shop is kept very clean inside, and it has been a while since I found such a fine spot! Recommended!
Tonkatsu Enraku (Tonkatsu / Chidoricho Station, Musashi-Nitta Station, Ikegami Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
