Ton Katsu

Staying in Shinjuki this June and wondering if anyone can recommend anywhere for Tonkatsu. Happy to travel for the best, we are addicted..... believe it not the best we have had to date was in Hawaii, yes from a real Japanese restaurant, Mama San and all.

At first,
I love Katsukura, however this chain-store is from Kyoto.
http://goo.gl/maps/XLD1T
I can recommend Saboten and Wakou.
http://goo.gl/maps/zG1kA
http://goo.gl/maps/gZif0
These three chain-stores are good for family, I think.

Saboten is usually consistent and good.

An alternative a little out of left field - have you considered going to the basement of one (or several) of the department stores and seeing what you can find ? Of course, you can't eat it there and then but you can get an idea between vendors.

They're more expensive than average, but Butagumi in Nishi-Azabu (http://www.bento.com/rev/3219.html ) is worth the trip for their Iberico and other premium pork varieties. You can even get a five-pork sampler.

Horaitei in front of Shibuya station is also very good: http://www.bento.com/rev/0384.html

I found Saboten to be too greasy the last time I visited (a few weeks ago).

Maisen is (for me anyway) the gold standard for chain store tonkatsu. It is always my first food stop when i go to Japan. Look here http://www15.j-server.com/LUCMAISEN/ns/tl.cgi/http%3a//mai-sen.com/sho... and do a word search on Shinjuku for one of their 4 Shinjuku stores. This is not your ordinary chain store, it is INCREDIBLY good.
I have also been to Katsukura and it is VERY good too http://www.bento.com/rev/3058.html Can't remember the locations of any others, sorry.
I want tonkatsu now...:-/

I like Katsukura too, especially their sauces with ground-your-own-goma and unlimited mugi-gohan and cabbage.

I also like Tonki.

http://tinyurl.com/Tonki-Tonkatsu

Dale

Tonki! How could i have left that off?! Yes Tonki is incredibly good too, and if you're in Meguro make it a food stop. You could always jump on the Yamanote line and 15 mins later you'll be seated at Tonki. Having said that ,you'll be equally happy at Maisen and could walk there...

The best Tonkatsu that I have ever eaten was in Kyoto. It was in a small cafe one block or two south of Nijo Castle, and I was walking from the Castle to Nijo Station. I cannot give you an address, but it was one of those things where I was hungray and stopped. You will find Tonkatsu in in a diner in almost every large station.

The difference in the place that I went was that it appeared to be a simple family owned buisness that was run with a lot of pride. If I could ever find the place again, I will not hesitate to stop, but this was one of those "right place at the right time" deals.

I don't remeber much, other than I thought the main street was boring, and since I knew that I would eventyally have to go south, I decided to see what was on the next street or two over. I remember running into a Tatami Mat manufacturer, who made little display mats that could be put under artwork. I bought several from him.

I can't stress how wonderful it is to sometimes explore the less traveled path, and find your personal little moment in Japan.

I wish you luck in finding yours.

This may not be helpful because they're way out of Tokyo, but two famous Katsudon varieties that I love are:

-Okayama's Demi-Katsudon. Katsudon with a demiglace sauce. The best place to get it is Ajitsukasa Nomura.

-Fukui's Sauce Katsudon. A delicious katsudon with a special local sauce. There is a chain restaurant in Fukui that serves it, but the best place (and place of origin, I believe) is Yoroppaken.

We had tonkatsu in a few places.

Easily the best for me was katsukura in Kyoto station.
Second was Maisen (Tokyo Jingumae branch).
The third place was perfectly tasty and excellent value but not as fabulous as other two.

Generally, how much would a teishoku meal cost at a chain like Saboten? I'm only familiar with Japanese chains that have expanded overseas - Saboten for katsu, Nantsuttei for ramen. Am assuming though that non-chain places would cost less.

I think teishoku at Saboten are around Y1300-1800 on average, give or take. Non-chain stores are the same price as chain stores.

Thanks Umami Dearest

Thank you all for your advice, I now have quite a bit of research to do. Again thank you. M