Pretty Pork Factory (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

From my recent trip to Osaka, I just realize that there are different kinds of tonkatsu restaurants in Japan. There are those no-frill ones that offer different katsu sets, which often include a mix of pork, prawn, oyster and scallop served with vegetables, rice and soup. For pork, you have a choice between fillet and loin, and that’s about all. In fact, I have been visiting these places my whole life. However, my pursuit for the perfect tonkatsu has recently led me to a couple of tonkatsu restaurants that offered so much more. Think of it as a steakhouse, you get to choose between Argentinian, Australian and USDA steak with different cuts. In Japan, there are these upscaletonkatsu restaurants that offer you a choice of pork (different cuts like boston butt, ribeye, fillet or loin) from different regions of Japan. The prices range from 3,000 to 9,000yen per set. 

For today’s lunch, I decided to pick out one of these upscale tonkatsu restaurants to satisfy my craving for delicious deep-fried pork cutlets.

Situated in buzzy Shinjuku Kabukicho (新宿歌舞伎町), Pretty Pork Factory is a pork centric restaurant that combines shabu shabu, barbecue and tonkatsu all under the same roof. 

We had the option of booking a semi-private room on Tabelog which we gladly took up.

Mom has decided to throw in the white towel on deep fried stuff today.

Hotpot with pork and vegetables suits her just fine and same goes for little nugget who’s a little under the weather.

But for Jelloman and myself, there’s no way we would trade our beloved tonkatsu for anything else on the menu.

Amagi Kurobuta ribeye (8,500yen) – Jelloman made it very clear that she just wanted the most expensive item from the menu since she’s not paying the bill. And it’s going to be the Amagi Kurobuta ribeye from Shizuoka Prefecture (静岡県). I honestly had no clue about the piggy from this region and our server did very little to provide us with any information what so ever.

This turned out to be more fatty than we expected. The meat was flavorful and melt-in-the-mouth but perhaps a little too melt-in-the-mouth for my liking.

Saddleback loin (7,500yen) – I had the saddleback loin from Kagoshima (鹿兒島) myself and it was the clear winner here. 

To me, this tasted a lot like pork belly with an exquisite balance of succulent meat and luscious layers of fat. The interplay between the tender meat and fat provided a delightful texture that resulted in an incredibly satisfying mouthfeel.

There aren 't that many premium tonkatsu places in Tokyo unless you start exploring the outskirts of the city. Perhaps next time I should consider staying a little further away from central Tokyo.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2/F G3, 1−10−3 Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0021, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinjuku

Tel: +81 3-3209-2929

Website: www.prettyporkfactory.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 11:00pm (Wed - Sun), 5:00pm - 11:00pm (Mon - Tue)