Deliciously soft and fatty tonkatsu at Maisen, a specialty store famous for their pork cutlet sandwiches
Craving some fried meat in Japan? Enter the tonkatsu, Japan’s popular fried pork cutlet. Tonkatsu Maisen is just one of many tonkatsu restaurants in Japan, but its soft and jiggly pork covered in crunchy breading is highly recommended if you’re looking for a hearty meal. It’s been around for over 50 years, and usually in Japan, becoming a chain store means they’ve done something right.
The Menu at Tonkatsu Maisen
Tonkatsu Maisen is known for the pork cutlet sandwiches (about 500 yen for a pack of three mini sandwiches) but since it was dinnertime, we got something bigger. They have an English menu, which is pretty awesome.
They have various types of pork to choose from, and the fancier types of pork go up in price to around 3,000 yen. In terms of variety, there’s the standalone pork cutlet teishoku (below), pork cutlet curry, katsudon (pork over rice), and pretty much every other combo available with pork cutlet.
We got a regular roast pork cutlet teishoku, about 1,700 yen including tax. It’s a bit more than what you expect to pay in Tokyo, but the size of the meal was well worth it. You know how they say a deck of cards is one serving of meat? Well, make that two here.
The best part of this is the sauce and salt you can put on your pork. I’m a huge fan of the herb spice, their original blend. It brings out the pork flavor, and gives it an extra kick to it.

If the Shibuya Hikarie location is looking pretty crowded, there’s another Tonkatsu Maisen in the Tokyu Department Store a couple of blocks away.
Enjoy your meal!