Katsu Prepork

It seems as though since mid-2023 they are open more regularly and reservations are not absolutely required.  A second branch opened in Harajuku in April 2024.

Katsu Prepork (Katsuプリポー)

⭐⭐⭐

🐷 Tonkatsu / 📍 Kabukicho

📓 Visits: 1

A restaurant in the middle of Kabukicho with a huge sign outside in English is probably the last place you'd expect to find gourmet food.  But Pretty Pork Factory is the #1 ranked restaurant in Japan for pork shabu shabu.  If you went in for shabu shabu you might be slightly miffed as to why some tables were getting tonkatsu.  But for two services a week only, Pretty Pork Factory does a double act as Katsu Prepork and in within a year has earned itself a handsome Tabelog rating of 3.80 and a place in the top 10 most highly rated tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo.

At each service there are around 7-10 breeds of pork to choose from and each breed is offered in one or more cuts.  Prices vary considerably.  The cheapest cut might be JPY 3,200 and the most expensive JPY 8,000.  You should budget JPY 4,500.

It's difficult to choose.  As tonkatsu doesn't just come down to the quality of the pork but quality of the panko and frying I didn't want to choose the most expensive pork on a first visit - I could always visit again if I liked it.  Menus include descriptions of each pork and there's a plot diagram of how each pork eats to help you.  Unfortunately the English outside hasn't made its way to the tonkatsu menus.  If you can read Japanese you can see some example menus on the Tabelog page.

On my visit I chose the saddleback which was priced at JPY 4,500.  Food came out after about 10 minutes.  The pork was excellent, so good it didn't need any seasoning.  The panko was the thin type, rich with lard and delicious.  Rice is cooked to order.  The restaurant uses the 'Milky Queen' variety of rice which is known for its soft texture.  It was better than the rice in a cheap tonkatsu restaurant but this isn't a cheap tonkatsu restaurant and it had a high water content and poor flavour.  Miso soup was the tonjiru type and contained a lot of fatty pork, which is not to my taste.  A bewildering array of condiments (which came with their own description sheet) were available to complement the meat and cabbage.  Staff brought out some dashi for you to pour on your rice.  This tasted like the sort of thing that comes out of a packet.

Staff were polite and service was excellent.  All seating is in booths but despite that, there was still smell on my clothes when I left.

There's no doubt that there's a lot of quality pork on offer here and the frying is excellent so whatever kind of tonkatsu you like you should be able to find something first class here.  But at this price everything (the rice and the soup) needs to be perfect.  As it wasn't, I won't be going back.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13264309/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.8

📱 Booking: 🟧 Bookings are required.  Dates for the following month are announced around the middle of the previous month on the restaurant's Tabelog page and on Instagram.  Check for available dates in the message on the Tabelog page and book by phone.  Limited English spoken.  I tried to book via DM in English and I was ignored.  If your heart is set on a particular breed of pork you should reserve it when you book.  Some breeds may be sold out on the day so either reserve when you book or book the earliest (12:00) slot on the day.

📍 Location:

2F G3 Building, 1-10-3 Kabukicho.  2F multi-tenant building.  Just past the (now replaced) Robot Restaurant.
Map data ©2022 Google

📅 Visit September 2022

Saddleback

💴 Damage: 4,500
⏱️ Time taken: 45m