Who doesn’t like breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets? At Agezuki in Kagurazaka, the chef has been making tonkatsu for the last three decades - and has pretty much perfected the art of tonkatsu.
Agezuki - image © Florentyna Leow
Most high schoolers don’t know what they want to do for the rest of their life. But Agezuki’s Chef Go Hoshina did - he knew he wanted to cook tonkatsu, and run a tonkatsu restaurant in his future. And he’s been doing just that for the last three decades.
Agezuki - image © Florentyna Leow
At its simplest, tonkatsu is just a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. At Agezuki, it’s an art form. They only use Minami no Shima, an award-winning breed of pork from Miyazaki prefecture sold only to a few restaurants in Japan. It’s aged until mellow but still assertively porky. It’s fried at low temperatures for around 15 minutes in a custom blend of oils, resulting in a remarkably crispy, clean-tasting cutlet - a perfect balance of lean meat and aromatic fat.
Agezuki - image © Florentyna Leow
All the attention to detail, dedication and experience has paid off. Agezuki is an incredibly popular place for lunch, as evidenced by waits of up to 30 minutes at times - which is still shorter than the queues at Maisen in Omotesando. Go early if you can, but in any case, Agezuki's tonkatsu is worth waiting in line for.
For more Tokyo tonkatsu choices, see our Best Tonkatsu in Tokyo page.
English name:
Agezuki
Japanese name:
あげづき
English address:
B1 Yamanouchi bldg., 3-2 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0825
Japanese address:
〒162-0825 東京都新宿区神楽坂3-2 山ノ内ビルB1
Opening hours:
Monday and Wednesday-Friday: 11:30am-3pm, 6pm-10:30pm
Saturday: 11:30am-3pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm
Sunday and national holidays: 11:30am-3pm, 5:30pm-9pm
Closed Tuesday and 3rd Wednesday
Price:
Non-smoking section:
Yes
Reservations:
Possible
Nearest Transport:
Subway: 3-minute walk from exit B3 of Iidabashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho, Namboku and Tozai lines, and Toei Oedo line.
Train: 4-minute walk from the west exit of Iidabashi Station on the JR Chuo-Sobu line.
Telephone:
+81-3-6265-0029
Website:
none
Customer Reviews:
:: Read customer reviews of Agezuki on TripAdvisor.
Near To Here:
Agezuki is located in Tokyo's Imperial Palace district. See our complete list of things to do in Tokyo's Imperial Palace district, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.
More Tokyo Restaurant Recommendations:
See all tonkatsu restaurants we recommend on our Best Tonkatsu in Tokyo page and get the complete list for all cuisines on our Best Tokyo Restaurants page.
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