The original location of what is now a bit more chained out restaurant, Maisen in Aoyama is one of Tokyo’s more esteemed tonkatsu restaurants. As my friend Lisa put it, Lucas takes all his bitches there.
Which is fine by me. Because Maisen’s specialty is a breaded-and-deep-fried piece of kurobuta (Berkshire) black pig. Oink oink.
There’s a take-away stand just outside the main restaurant that sells tonkatsu sandwiches, but the version we had in the sit-down restaurant involved a lot of shredded cabbage (all you can eat, in fact) and a delicious jar of self-serve sosu, or tonkatsu sauce (similar to Worcestershire).
Marvel at the opulence of the crust, and trust me when I say that despite the deep-frying, the cutlet itself remained exceptionally tender and soft. Imagine the ginger-y, sweet-and-sour sauce slathered atop a bite of tonkatsu that still remains crispy. Stare at the porkiness of the accompanying soup. Try to refrain from drooling.
Just accept the drooling.
House of Hao's 