Tonkatsu Hinata is a Tokyo restaurant solely dedicated to tonkatsu. What sets the restaurant apart from others serving the classic fried and breaded pork dish is its six-course tonkatsu menu, featuring both traditional and nontraditional cuts of pork.
By buying a whole pig, head chef Yuta Kimura is able to use parts uncommon in the dish, like rib roast, loin, tenderloin, shikinbo (thigh), rampu (hip,) and tontoro (neck). Each piece is dipped in egg wash, raw panko breadcrumbs, and fried to crispy golden perfection. “Even with one pig, each part tastes different,” says the restaurant’s producer Daisuke Masugi.
“I eat 200 to 250 tonkatsu a year, which is every two to three days. I am able to find out more about it each time,” says Masugi. “Tonkatsu Hinata’s tonkatsu is good, but there is still room to improve. We would like to pursue that.”