A note on the words: tonkatsu is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet, divided here into lean, tender hirekatsu (fillet) and richer, fattier rosukatsu (loin), with jo-rosu and toku-rosu as the steps above it on the menu. Karaage is Japanese fried chicken, marinated and fried without a breadcrumb coating. Menchi katsu is a breaded patty of seasoned ground meat, while Amagi shamo is a game fowl raised in Amagi, on the Izu Peninsula. Tare is a dipping sauce, set out here beside soy sauce and salt.
Tonkatsu Nanaido on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. My lunch schedule suddenly cleared up, so I thought I’d look around for somewhere delicious to eat, and I came across this tonkatsu shop, “Tonkatsu Nanaido”. It’s in Gaienmae, about a 10 to 15-minute walk from the station. Apparently it’s a tonkatsu shop opened next door by a yakitori restaurant; while the tonkatsu place itself has high ratings, that yakitori shop (Yakitori Imai) also boasts extraordinarily high scores. Impressive!
I arrived on site 15 minutes before the 11:30 opening!
To my surprise, there was already a long line, ha. For a split second I wondered if I should rethink it, but I had time to spare, so I made up my mind to join the queue!
As for the system, you line up until opening, and once the doors open, customers buy meal tickets in order. If there are open seats inside after buying your ticket, you are seated right away; if it’s full, you buy your meal ticket first (a numbered ticket comes out with it as well) and then line up outside again. When we bought our tickets, our numbered ticket was number 19, meaning we were the 19th party in total.
Well, I waited thinking we would be in roughly the second seating round, but outside there were chairs, an infrared heater, and even hot tea provided. While it’s cold outside and of course not entirely comfortable, ha, it’s a relatively easy environment to wait in!
And so, we were finally seated about an hour after first lining up.
Tonkatsu Nanaido (Gaienmae) menu
Set meals (from the ticket machine)
You buy a meal ticket at the ticket machine before lining up again. Items can sell out.
Popular as a shop born out of a yakitori restaurant. Items can sell out early.
The dish I had this time.
A la carte
Just the right size to add to a set meal.
*Prices are from the author’s visit. Please check the shopfront for current pricing and availability.
House-made menchi and rosukatsu set — 1,800 yen
Rosukatsu set — 1,980 yen
Amagi shamo chicken katsu set — 2,280 yen
Thick-cut hirekatsu set — 2,380 yen
Jo-rosu katsu set — 2,680 yen
Toku-rosu katsu set — 3,280 yen
Toku katsu bento — 1,280 yen
Hmm, what a dilemma. Items can sell out on the ticket machine, and there are also a la carte items you can order. When I bought my ticket in 19th position, the toku-rosu katsu set and the Amagi shamo chicken katsu set were already sold out, ha. I see—because it’s a tonkatsu shop run by a yakitori restaurant, the chicken katsu is popular too. After much agonizing, this time I chose the thick-cut hirekatsu along with a single piece of chicken ordered a la carte.
The condiments are laid out like this.
Soy sauce, salt, and tare sauce are kept at the counter. After a short wait, the tonkatsu appeared!
Whoa, thick-cut indeed!! And it looks incredibly delicious.
Let’s try it first with salt. After a light sprinkle of salt, I took a bite, and…
Tender, extraordinarily juicy pork!!! Delicious!!
Extremely good. Truly delicious. Flavorful meat juices seem to overflow from the tender meat. The outer coating has a light, crisp texture, making for a tonkatsu that isn’t heavy at all. I wonder if this shop also fries slowly at low temperatures. Wow, this tonkatsu is so good! If it’s this good, it is well worth waiting an hour. The cold and fatigue vanished in an instant.
And since this is a shop started by a yakitori restaurant, after all, I also had the single piece of chicken.
About the size of a large piece of karaage. Just the right size to eat in a bite or two. And when I tasted it, this too was amazing, ha. Super juicy, with meat juices bursting out! Rather than a chicken katsu, what would you call this—like a battered karaage? Man, this chicken is good. I feel like I understand why the Amagi shamo chicken katsu set is so popular, and in fact I’d really like to come back and try it.
By the way, here is the regular rosu ordered by my dining companion.
This looks delicious too. We traded a piece of hire for rosu, and the rosu was delicious too! I suspect the difference between jo-rosu and toku-rosu is probably just the portion size, and that the meat itself might not change, I think, but I wonder if that’s right? 140g, 200g, and 240g. 140g feels like it might be the most manageable size!
The rosu is delicious with salt, but it pairs wonderfully with sauce too!
So, I waited an hour in line to eat here, and it was well worth the wait! By the way, there were people who arrived later, didn’t notice the line off to the side, and were about to walk in to buy tickets before seeing how long the wait was and heading off, but since the system is to buy a ticket first and then line up, it’s best to check before buying! I imagine it’s always quite crowded, so I feel getting in line about 30 minutes before lunch is probably the right move! It was delicious!
For more tonkatsu in Gaienmae or Akihabara, check out these spots: another celebrated shop in Gaienmae, and Marugo in Akihabara with its unavoidable queues!
Tonkatsu Nanaido (Tonkatsu / Gaienmae Station, Omotesando Station, Kokuritsu-kyogijo Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★★☆ 4.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
