Kyoto Katsuriki

In Shijo-Karasuma, a major transportation hub in Kyoto, there is a restaurant specializing in tonkatsu called Kyoto Katsuriki. According to the official website, Kyoto Katsuriki is the only pork cutlet restaurant in the country that sells Kyoto Poku wholesale. This makes the restaurant very appealing to those who love Kyoto’s food.

I wanted to try the pork cutlets made from Kyoto’s brand name pork, Kyoto Poku…so I went to Kyoto Katsuriki during lunch time on a weekday when I finished work early. The restaurant looked like a typical pork cutlet chain restaurant, but in fact, it was a little different from my image…

It is actually a new business model of Kyoto Kitashirakawa Ramen Kairikiya. But…this is what Kyoto Katsuriki is all about!

Kyoto Katsuriki is a new branch of Kyoto Kitashirakawa Ramen Kairikiya, a popular chain of back fat soy sauce ramen restaurants in Kyoto. I am ashamed to admit that I did not know this fact until I surfed the Internet to visit the restaurant and write this blog entry. This is because I can’t imagine tonkatsu and ramen being strongly associated with each other. Furthermore, this restaurant is so calm or cozy that it is hard to believe that it is a restaurant operated by a major restaurant chain…

There are 26 seats in total, including 10 counter seats, but even during lunch time, the restaurant is staffed by a craftsman in charge of cooking in the kitchen and a floor staff member. The number of waitstaff is clearly out of proportion to the number of customers. Was this just a coincidence? So, I had the impression that time was flowing more leisurely than I expected. If you are looking for a place to have lunch during work, this restaurant may not be the best choice…but the interior is clean and comfortable, and it is a good place to enjoy a leisurely lunch.

I tried Kyoto Pork Cutlet, a brand name pork from Kyoto, at Kyoto Katsuriki’s top menu, the Thick-cut Loin Cutlet Set Meal.

This time, I ordered the Thick-cut Loin Cutlet Set Meal (priced at 2,480 yen including tax), which is the restaurant’s top-shelf menu item. When ordering, there are two choices of batter: “coarse” and “fine”.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, the Thick-cut Loin Cutlet Set Meal arrived in front of me. The thick loin meat, which seemed to be at least 3 cm thick, was uniformly pink in the cross section and was fried to perfection. The juices oozing out of the cutlet were soaked in the juices and shining brightly, making the cutlet look very appetizing.

Now, let’s follow this recommended way of eating…

First, let’s try the second slice from the right as it is… The batter is crunchy, but the meat inside is soft and fluffy, and the sweet juice blended with the meat juice and fat flows out from the chewed cross section. In addition to the sweetness of the juices, the meat is slightly salty, so it can be eaten without seasoning. However, this Kyoto Pork’s loin had more fat than I expected. So, it may be a little hard for those who do not like fatty meat without some kind of seasoning.

Next, pour Himalayan pink rock salt on the meat in the center… In this way, the rock salt neutralizes the fat in the case of no seasoning, and the meat, which was a little tough, becomes light and easy to eat.

In addition to this, there was a sweet fruity medium thick sauce, a clear dry sauce, and a bubble soy sauce from Takeoka Soy Sauce in Kameoka, Kyoto, as tabletop condiments. Of these condiments, I personally prefer the dry sauce. The bubble soy sauce has a mellower saltiness and a richer soy sauce flavor due to the foamy soy sauce, but it’s just not my favorite…

One last thing. Not only the Thick-cut Loin Cutlet Set Meal, but all Kyoto Katsuriki set meals come with free refills of rice, miso soup, and cabbage. Moreover, they only use rice grown in Kyoto, which is purchased from Hachidaime Gihey, a famous restaurant in Kyoto. Of course the cabbage and miso soup are great, but I am too happy to hear that the rice from Hachidaime Gihey is all-you-can-eat. This guarantees a full stomach, so I recommend Kyoto Katsuriki, especially if you want to fill up on guts.

Examples of other menu items at Kyoto Katsuriki (prices include tax)

• Special fillet cutlet set meal: 2,480 yen
• Top fillet cutlet set meal: 2,200 yen
• Fillet cutlet set meal: 1,700 yen
• Extra high ribeye cutlet set meal: 1,980 yen
• Top loin cutlet set meal: 1,620 yen
• Loin cutlet set meal: 1,300 yen

Fried shrimp set meal: 1,690 yen

Take-out service is also available…Access to Kyoto Katsuriki is a one-minute walk from the nearest station, Karasuma Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.

Kyoto Katsuriki also offers take-out tonkatsu bento boxes. Compared to eat-in, it is around 200 yen cheaper to take out…I think the price is reasonable to begin with, but to be able to eat even cheaper from there is really something to be thankful for. The restaurant is directly connected to Karasuma Station, a major transportation hub, so I think it’s a great idea to buy tonkatsu bento for dinner.

Here are the details of the restaurant…

P.S. If you are looking for delicious tonkatsu in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…