TacoCat's TrEats #36: A Porkin' Good Time 🐽

Cover image source: https://tokyo-as-it-is.localinfo.jp/posts/3393232/

Hey Steemit!

Yay we're back with another Made in Japan contest! I love these contests because not only do I love Japanese food, but Japan is my favourite country! And I'm always down to share some of my favourite restaurants there. 😊

Anyway, the restaurant I want to share today is called Matsunoya! Not to be confused with the popular beef bowl/gyudon chain, Matsuya, because they serve totally different food items (although they share the same parent).

This is Matsunoya:

And this is Matsuya:

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Matsunoya specialises in tonkatsu (pork cutlets), but I believe they also have chicken and beef options as well.

This is a typical set meal, with rice and miso soup. The tonkatsu also comes with some cabbage as a side. They also serve katsudons, where the tonkatsu is on top of the rice in a rice bowl. I suppose it would taste pretty similar other than some gravy toppings, but I didn't want to compromise the crispiness of the tonkatsu so I went with the usual set.

Sean actually found Matsunoya during his recent internship in Japan where he stayed in Kawasaki. He brought me there when I went to visit him and I absolutely loved it!

The outlet we went to was pretty small, so there was limited seating, but post dinner-time it wasn't too bad. To order, you'd go to the automated machine and get a ticket stub, similar to many other Japanese fast food restaurants (not fast-food but fast food).

Source: porkintheroad.blogspot.com

I've already written about these amazing machines in a previous tasteem post, but I really like how efficient it is. It's one of the reasons why I like Japanese budget-friendly restaurants. No more waiting around for someone to serve you, and the staff can just focus on maintaining the quality and tastiness of the food! Win-win! 😃

We ordered an all pork cutlet set (the previous pic) and a pork and chicken cutlet combo:

Both the chicken and pork cutlets tasted so goood! Tbh I couldn't really taste much of a difference because the breading was the same. It was really crispy and they have a number of sauces at the table for you to mix with the cutlets too. It gets a little dry if you don't add any sauce but it tastes even better if you do!

Source: tabelog.com
I think the first one is carrot dressing for the salad. The middle one is special sauce, and the right is tonkatsu sauce. I remember they had some garlic/seasame sauce as well but I didnt take a picture of it unfortunately.

In all our previous trips to Japan we haven't eaten much tonkatsu because of how expensive it is in regular restaurants. It's a shame, because I really like tonkatsu. So when we found out about Matsunoya I was overjoyed! The tonkatsu is really good and tasty, and the prices are really reasonable. I think 1 set like ours is about 600-700yen, and they even give you coupons to use on your subsequent visit!

Initially we thought Matsunoya and Matsuya were completely separate since they have such different menus. Then we found out they're both under the giant food company, Matsuya Foods. They actually own several other types of restaurants spanning all kinds of Japanese food, like sushi, ramen, curry and steak! I didn't realise how big it was until I did my research but Matsuya Foods is a huuuuge Japanese food conglomerate.

I believe there are about 180 Matsunoya outlets in Japan and they have a few in New York as well. So if you're a fan of tonkatsu, and you don't wanna break the bank, definitely check out Matsunoya!

Thanks so much for reading!

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

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Restaurant Information

Tonkatsu Matsunoya

Japan, 〒105-0004 Tōkyō-to, Minato City, Shinbashi, 2-chōme−12−３ 内海産業

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TacoCat's TrEats #36: A Porkin' Good Time 🐽
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Made in Japan

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Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat's TrEats #35: A Rare Meat Cute