Eating tonkatsu at Narikura in Tokyo was like eating wagyu beef for the first time. It was so much softer and juicier I could not believe it was actually really pork. Even though we had to wait for almost two hours, it was completely worth it!
Narikura (成蔵)
Narikura (成蔵) is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant famous for its delicious premium tonkatsu. It ranks as the top tonkatsu restaurant on trustworthy Tabelog, which is a testament to its popularity and food quality.
The small restaurant is helmed by owner and Chef Seizo Mitani, who has come a long way. After graduating from college, he worked briefly at a department store, before realising soon that his true passion was in cooking.
Therefore, he decided to train under his uncle in a renowned Shimbasi restaurant. After 11 years, Chef Mitani struck out on his own and opened Narikura in 2010.
Located in the basement of a nondescript building, this hole-in-the-wall eatery was initially a relatively unknown establishment.
However, it exploded in popularity from around 2015, and nowadays customers have to wait around 2 hours during peak hours to get a taste of Chef Mitani’s famous tonkatsu!
Low Temperature Frying
One of the reasons why Narikura’s tonkatsu tastes so good is because Chef Mitani fries the pork at very low temperatures over a long period.
According to one source, the pork is cooked in frying oil at 110°C and the temperature is gradually increased until it is fully cooked. The whole process takes about 20 minutes.
Narikura Menu
Snow-Aged Pork Menu
Kirishima Kurobuta Menu
Kirifuri Kogen Menu (regular signature item)
Drinks Menu
While waiting in line, we were handed the menu by the restaurant hostess managing the queue outside.
To our dismay, it was almost completely in Japanese, with just a few basic English translations.
Luckily, I already had a rough idea of the restaurant’s food from prior research, and the hostess could speak some basic English as well.
Basically, you just need to decide on two things: the pork cut and pork breed.
Pork Cut
Loin cut explanation
Fillet cut explanation
There are two types of pork cuts: Loin (rosu/ ロース) and Fillet (hire/ ヒレ). Loin is more tender and fatty than Fillet. Personally I prefer loin.
To make things slightly more confusing, there are three kinds of loin: Loin (口ース, 130g serving), Superior Loin (上 ロース, 190g serving), and Special Loin (特ロース, 200g serving).
Loin is the lower cut and is moderately fatty and tender. Superior Loin is the upper cut and is the leanest. Special Loin is the middle cut and is the most fatty and tender.
Go for Superior Loin (200g) if you are a big eater and feeling rich, otherwise Loin (130g) should be good too.
Pork Breed
Specialty Breeds explanation
Narikura offers several pork breeds:
- Yukimuro-Jukusei buta / Snow-Aged Pork (雪室熟成豚)
- Tokyo X
- Kirishima Kurobuta (霧島黒豚)
- Ainou Natural Pork (愛農)
- Kirifuri-Kogen (霧降高原豚)
The first four breeds are seasonal “specialty breeds” and are subject to change.
The last breed, Kirifuri-Kogen, is Narikura’s regular signature item. It comes from the upland Tochigi Prefecture and is significantly less expensive than the specialty breeds. It is known for its light flavour and decent marbling.
What to Order
I hope you have a clearer idea of the menu now!
For the pork cut, I decided to go for the Loin cut because it is more tender and fatty, while the wife went with Fillet, which is leaner.
For the pork breeds, you can refer to the graph above to get an idea of their tastes. Both of us chose the specialty breed Snow-Aged Pork (雪室熟成豚) because according to the graph it is supposed to be extremely tender. This premium pork hails from Niigata. It is wet-aged in a snow-filled room at 0°C to 5°C temperature, and at 89% to 95% humidity.
The Kirishima Kurobuta (霧島黒豚) is another popular choice. This premium black pork comes from Kagoshima and is very famous in Japan.
However, based on online reviews I read, it seems that there isn’t a big difference in taste between the regular Kirifuri-Kogen (霧降高原豚) and the “specialty” pork breeds.
I can’t really opine on this because we did not order the Kirifuri-Kogen. It’s up to you whether you are willing to pay the premium for the specialty pork breeds which are around 25% more expensive.
Each customer must at least order one dish.
Queuing System
I read several food blogs before the trip which mentioned that Narikura has a traditional queueing system, where customers have to wait in line outside the restaurant.
However, when we went down in November 2018, it seemed the restaurant had already changed to a new (and slightly more efficient) system.
When we reached, we were greeted by the restaurant hostess who told us we needed to pay a deposit of JPY1000 each to secure a place in the queue. We could then come back around one hour later to join the queue again.
To kill time, we decided to explore the nearby Big Box shopping centre which is just a 3 minute walk from Narikura. This 9-storey mall is home to retail shops, a bowling alley, internet cafe, arcade, and a bargain store.
After one hour, we went back to the restaurant, thinking we could enter the restaurant shortly. This was wishing thinking; we had to queue for another 45 minutes. During this time, the hostess took our orders.
It was pretty crazy that we had to wait so long despite going down on a Tuesday, but perhaps it was because we went during lunch hour at around 12.30pm.
Friendly Service in a Cozy Space
The talented Chef Mitani standing in the kitchen
And so after almost two hours, we finally got to enter the restaurant!
Narikura is located in the basement of a residential building. The cozy interior is dimly lit and can only seat about 20 people.
It has an open kitchen, where you can see the famous Chef Mitani and his kitchen crew preparing the food with typical Japanese efficiency.
The staff served us our food smilingly immediately once we were seated.
Like most Japanese restaurants, there is a tacit rule that you’re supposed to leave immediately after eating. We did not see any customers staying behind to chit chat after finishing their meals.
The staff were all very polite. Chef Mitani and his crew even bowed and thanked us as we were leaving the restaurant!
Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 – Loin (130g)
It tastes as good as it looks
I ordered the Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Loin 130g (JPY2580). This was by far the BEST tonkatsu I had ever eaten!
The cutlet coating was a perfect light golden-brown, and didn’t appear greasy or oily at all despite being fried for a long period.
The underlying juicy chunks of meat had a tantalising tinge of pink which reminded me of lightly seared tuna.
My first bite of the tonkatsu had me swooning. It reminded me of the first time I ate wagyu beef. It was so much more tender and juicy that I couldn’t believe it was actually pork!
As for the panko (bread crumb), it was unlike anything I had ever eaten too. It was super light and fluffy, but still crispy enough to provide crunch. It complimented the pork meat perfectly to produce a heavenly combination.
I recommend eating the tonkatsu on its own so you can fully savour its flavours. But if you wish, you can add a little brown tonkatsu sauce which provides a slight tang.
On the whole, Narikura’s tonkatsu was the perfect combination of savoury, sweet, fatty, crispy and sweet tastes. I will never look at tonkatsu the same again.
Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 – Fillet (100g)
We also ordered the Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Fillet 100g (JPY2580). This tasted awesome too.
Similarly, the tonkatsu meat was juicy, tender, and savoury. However, I felt that it wasn’t as mind-blowing as the loin version, because the meat wasn’t as tender.
However, it was still really delicious, and will be suitable for people who prefer leaner meat. Note that it is served in a smaller portion compared to the loin meat.
All tonkatsu orders come in a set with miso soup, freshly sliced cabbage, potato salad, seaweed, and Japanese pickles.
Conclusion
Satisfied
I’m usually cynical about queueing too long for food, especially when it’s ordinary Japanese comfort food priced at a premium. However, after having tried the tonkatsu from Narikura, I am definitely more than willing to queue again! This was hands-down the best tonkatsu I had ever eaten, and was totally worth the high price. While I have not checked out other popular tonkatsu restaurants like Tonkatsu Tonki or Maisen Tonkatsu, Narikura fares much better with its reviews on trusted Tabelog. I will be back.
Before you go down, I highly recommend that you check Narikura’s Twitter account for updates because they often run out of queue tickets for the day.
Narikura (成蔵)
What to Order: Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Loin (JPY2580)
English Address: 1 Chome-32-11 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0075
Japanese Address: 〒169-0075 東京都新宿区高田馬場１丁目３２−11
Directions: 3 minute walk from Takadanobaba Station
Opening Hours: | Daily 11am to 1.30pm, 5.30pm to 8pm | CLOSED on Thurs and Sun |
Twitter: https://twitter.com/narikura_1010
Phone: +813 6380 3823