Tonkatsu Wako Takumian: a fresh taste of succulent pork

Tonkatsu pork cutlets are prepared by first covering the pork with breadcrumbs and then carefully frying the cutlets in oil. They are similar to French cutlets but are coated and fried in the fashion of tempura for a unique Japanese take on the dish.

Since its founding in 1958 Tonkatsu Wako has set up restaurants all over Japan. Tonkatsu Wako Takumian in Isetan Shinjuku store upholds the Wako tradition of excellence and more, serving dishes prepared from a higher grade of ingredients and offering a calm and luxurious dining environment.

Takumian is a special restaurant that can only be found on the seventh floor of the main Isetan Shinjuku building.

Customers at Takumian enjoy rare-breed pork carefully selected by experts. Thanks to strict breeding management and rearing techniques, this premium-brand pork is recognised as having a special flavour and it meets certain quality standards. It is therefore extremely succulent and has high rarity value.

The coating around the meat is an extremely important factor in enjoying tonkatsu prepared from this exceptional pork. At Takumian, breadcrumbs are made from special bread only after an order is placed. The coating allows the heat to reach all the way through the meat slowly, giving the tonkatsu a fluffy and juicy texture.

Order from the zen menu to best enjoy Japanese-style tonkatsu. Zen meals include rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage and pickles in addition to the main fried dish. Shredded cabbage is generally served with fried food in Japan as it is a perfect palate cleanser.

Enjoy all the rice, cabbage and miso soup you want ‒ second helpings are free with any zen meal. Everyone at Wako and Takumian hopes you will enjoy your meal until you are completely satisfied.

This juicy pork wrapped in a crunchy coating is a signature dish. The zen fillet cutlet is made with meat from Waton Mochibuta, a brand of pork famous for producing some of the most delicious meat in Japan. The wonderfully rich pork releases flavour the more you chew it. The exceptional taste of Waton Mochibuta meat is guaranteed through the strict selection of sire pigs and the thorough management of production environment data.

We recommend first trying a slice topped with Takumian’s salty-sweet sauce. Next, enjoy a slice topped with grated daikon, or winter radish. For a refreshing taste with an entirely different flavour add a little soy sauce to the snow-like grated daikon.

One brand of pork you’ll definitely want to try is Agu from Okinawa. Extremely rare Agu pigs are bred only in Okinawa and are well known for their sweet fat meat full of collagen. Agu pigs are bred slowly ‒ twice as long as normal pigs ‒ for very tender meat with little aroma. (Note that pork brands vary from day to day.)

Although tonkatsu is the main dish at Takumian, fried seafood is also on the menu. The large fried prawn zen dish consists of two impressively big prawns piled majestically together. Fried at just the right temperature, these prawns fill one’s mouth and are chewy yet tender.

Takumian tonkatsu is prepared from carefully selected rare breeds of pork. The meat is covered in freshly ground Takumian breadcrumbs and is served with rice, miso soup and cabbage. At Takumian customers eat to their heart’s content, enjoying dishes of rare-breed meat prepared with the discernment and skill of experts.