Taito City, Tokyo, Japan｜Yamabe Okachimachi

Best Tonkatsu around Ueno. Always has long queue and even 30 mins before shop open at 11.00 am. This is a second time in a week I came here. Inside restaurant is quite small, you sit at the counter bar. There is a long chair for queing inside after you enter the shop.

Stumbled on one of the best katsudon I’ve had in Tokyo so far. Unassuming old restaurant which we was not easy to find as they have only Japanese signage. The staff were very friendly and welcoming and we were lucky to come when there was no queue. The pork was tender, delicious and the breaded crust was crunchy and not oily at all. It went perfectly with the mustard and rice. Polished of 2 bowls of rice and the clam soup and it was all under ¥900 yen. Will not find the same quality for that reasonable cost back home for sure…

The best tonkotsu I’ve ever had. To be fair, I live in the US, and don’t eat tonkotsu that often. But this was quite good. Each meal comes with the tonkotsu on a bed of shredded cabbage with wasabi on the side, rice, pickled cabbage, miso soup with small clams, and green tea. The tonkotsu sauce is self serve, you can use as much as you want. My partner and I tried both pork options. One was one large cutlet, the other was three smaller cutlets. They tasted basically the same. This place is popular, so expect a line. We got there 10 minutes early and still missed the first seating. The restaurant seats around 16 or 17 people, so if you arrive later than that, expect to wait around 30 minutes (depends how fast people eat). They’ll take your order while you’re waiting though, so the food should come basically as soon as you sit down. Overall, I can’t really imagine what they could have done better, hence the 5 stars. That being said, tonkotsu isn’t my favorite meal, it’s a bit heavy for me. Still, highly recommend this place.