Tonkatsu might seem like a simple dish at first, after all, it's just pork that's breaded in panko (パン粉, Breadcrumbs) and deep-fried right? However, there's an art to tonkatsu that few restaurants go for. Typically, at the fast-food or lower-end tonkatsu shops, you get tough and dry meat, that has a soggy breading, and you just cover the entire thing in tonkatsu sauce (トンカツソース, Tonkatsu Sōsu) so all you get is the taste of the tonkatsu sauce. Here at Butagumi Shokudo, the tonkatsu itself is the star. Rather than covering the entire taste of the tonkatsu in sauce, you lightly deep the meat in a bit of Andean Rock Salt that allows you to really enjoy the natural sweetness of the pork, taste the juiciness and umami (旨味, Savoriness) of the meat, and crunch on the light and crisp breading of the pork. It's an entire world of difference that redefines what tonkatsu can be like. It's the difference between real tonkatsu lovers who appreciate the satisfaction of eating it as a dish vs eating it as a quick and easy fast food.
This is also a level that's typically priced pretty high, but Butagumi Shokudo, especially for lunch, offers extremely affordable set lunches that bring the price of these high-end brand-name pork to one that is gentle on your wallet. Furthermore, as with most self-respecting tonkatsu restaurants, the rice and cabbage are refillable, and you also get a heart bowl of tonjiru (豚汁, Pork Soup) to go with it.
Butagumi Shokudo is the casual dining spin-off of Butagumi, a Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded tonkatsu restaurant in Roppongi. At their main restaurant, you can choose which cut of pork you would like, which prefecture's brand-name pork you would like, and really customise the exact type of meat that you're getting. Here at Butagumi Shokudo, all that complexity has really been stripped away, and left up to the chef's choice for the day, allowing the experts to make the decisions, and you to reap the fruits (or pork) of their labour. As self-proclaimed tonkatsu lovers, we've combed through many tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo before settling on Butagumi Shokudo as our self-proclaimed Best Tonkatsu Restaurant in Tokyo.
Butagumi Shokudo has 3 Axioms of How to Dine There:
- Eat the tonkatsu sideways. (かつは横向き, 横に倒して食す, katsu wa yoko muki, yoko ni taoshite tabemasu)
The side that's cut should be facing upwards. (切り口が上, kiriguchi ga ue) - The idea is that by letting the meat-side touch your tastebuds directly, it increases the taste of the pork.
- Place the sauce in the small saucer, and dip a little each time you eat it. (ソースは小皿に, 都度つけて食す, sōsu wa kosara ni, tsudo tsukete tabemasu)
Just like how you would eat sashimi (刺身のごとく, sashimi no gotoku) - The idea is not to drench the coating in the sauce but to just dip it a little before you eat it.
- Start with the salt, then try again without adding anything else. (はじめは塩から, 何もつけずに食す, hajime wa shio kara, nani mo tsukezu ni tabemasu)
Then go back and eat it with salt, before eating it with the tonkatsu sauce. (塩で食す, ソースで食す, shio de tabemasu, sōsu de tabemasu) - The idea is so that you can experience the natural taste of the pork and how it changes with the different condiments used
