Tonki's Pork Cutlet Assembly Line

Tonki is one of the oldest and best pork cutlets restaurants in Tokyo. Although hipsters say newer joints (like Tenshin, which is right down the street) are more tasty, I like eating here better because you get to watch a real traditional Japanese trade--tonkatsu-making--in action.

Pictured here are three Tonki chefs hard at work. Each one plays a crucial role in delivering one of the most well put together pork cutlet plates you'll ever get. The guy on the far left is the breader. He takes each pork filet and dips it in egg, then dips it in flour, then dips it in egg again, then flour again, and finally breads it before tossing it in the giant metal canisters behind him.

The guy in the middle is the head chef of the entire restaurant. He is the oldest, the most experienced, and the most tuned into the flavors and style of Tonki. His only job here today is to cut the pork. When the cutlet is ready, he takes it out of the canisters and cuts it into perfect rectangles at the most constant rhythm you can imagine an old guy like him having.

The guy on the right prepares the plate. He places the chopped cabbage on the side and drops a dollop of tonkatsu sauce on the cutlet before it's dispatched to the customer.

Other cool things about Tonki:
- There are basically only 3 things on the menu: dark meat, brown meat, or skewered meat.
- It's the only place I know of where the meat "floats" inside the breading.
- As soon as you finish your last bite, a guy whose job is to watch the customers' pace places a warm, wet towel in front of you.
- The pork production process resembles an assembly line, but there's one major difference: the guys that work here each greatly value their work, and even though they do the same thing over and over and over all day, there's an element of honor and respect for their work, a dying phenomenon in today's workforce.

Comments

[Ben Miller]

I live about 50 metres from Tonki.

The thing that most intrigues me is the way the the guy on the far right of your top photograph is able to use some sort of small mnemonic note-taking to recall the order of entry of each individual/group (and of course the tonkatsu they each choose), irrespective of where they sit on the waiting benches, and use this to inform his choice of which sections of the counter he will allow to remain unutilized when they are vacated by the previous customer, in order to not penalize groups of three or more by making them wait disproportionately.

He wouldn't tell me how many pork cutlets they sold a week, but he did tell me that they go through approx 1000 cabbages.

[Joey_v]

I wanna eat there someday.
:]

[Gordon]

My personal fav is Tonta in Takadanobaba. It's a "mom and pop" shop and the man makes tonkatsu that stands above everything else. It's like you've never had it before! I'll have to try Tonki and see how it compares. Check out Tonta if you have a chance! Highly recommended! Here's a link:

http://tokyo.gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/info/2935.html