GINZA TONKATSU SAITO

We went to Ginza Tonkatsu Saito with a simple goal: to try their tonkatsu. It was full when we arrived, but instead of sending us away, they arranged a table for an hour later. We said yes, left for a while and came back. It was absolutely worth it. Ginza Tonkatsu Saito is located in the basement level of a building in Ginza in Tokyo. The focus here is tonkatsu, the Japanese breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet, and besides the regular dishes you can choose a tonkatsu omakase where the kitchen decides the format. The prices are on the higher side, but you can tell they have geeked out over a single dish and want to show how much you can do with it. We went for the tonkatsu omakase, and it's a great way to get to know the place. Instead of a single cutlet, we got to try several varieties of tonkatsu, alternated with fried vegetables. Everything was very well prepared and the standard was high throughout, with no weak spot. When a menu is built almost entirely on deep-fried food, it demands a lot of precision, and here they nailed it all the way through. What stayed with us was how they handled it when they were full. Instead of a curt no, we got a specific time and a table waiting for us an hour later. It's a small thing, but it says a lot about a place, and you can see that someone cares about the guests. The fact that it was full when we arrived also shows that it's a popular spot. Ginza Tonkatsu Saito is a very good tonkatsu restaurant and definitely worth a visit if you're in Tokyo and want to eat tonkatsu at a truly high level. My tip is to go for the omakase, so you get several varieties instead of a single cutlet. Also, expect that it may be full. Book in advance if you can, or ask whether they can arrange a table a bit later, as they did for us.