Narikura (Tokyo) – Michelin Bib Gourmand Tonkatsu, So Tender You Can Cut It With Your Chopsticks

Eating tonkatsu at Narikura in Tokyo was like eating wagyu beef for the first time. It was so soft and juicy I could not believe it was actually really pork. Even though we had to wait for almost two hours, it was completely worth it! If it’s your first time visiting and you are thinking about what to order, I recommend the Kirifuri-Kogen 霧降高原豚 (JPY1,980) or Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 (JPY2,580). More details are below. This article was last updated on 07 May 2020.

Narikura (成蔵)

Narikura (成蔵) is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant famous for its delicious premium tonkatsu. It ranks as the top tonkatsu restaurant on trustworthy Tabelog, which is a testament to its popularity and food quality.

The small restaurant is helmed by owner and Chef Seizo Mitani. He worked briefly at a department store after graduating college, but quickly realised that his true passion was in cooking.

Therefore, he decided to train under his uncle in a renowned Shimbasi restaurant. After 11 years, Chef Mitani struck out on his own and opened Narikura in 2010.

Located in the basement of a nondescript building, this hole-in-the-wall eatery was initially a relatively unknown establishment.

However, it exploded in popularity from around 2015, and nowadays customers have to wait around 2 hours during peak hours to get a taste of Chef Mitani’s famous tonkatsu!

Low Temperature Frying

One of the reasons why Narikura’s tonkatsu tastes so good is because Chef Mitani fries the pork at very low temperatures over a long period.

According to one source, the pork is cooked in frying oil at 110°C and the temperature is gradually increased until it is fully cooked. The whole process takes about 20 minutes!

Menu & How To Order

Unfortunately, the menu is almost completely in Japanese. Therefore I have provided English translations in the menu above. Below is my two-step guide on how to order.

Step 1. Choose Pork Cut
There are two types of pork cuts: Loin (“rosu” / ロース) and Fillet (“hire” / ヒレ). Loin is more tender and fatty than Fillet. Personally I prefer loin.

To make things slightly more confusing, there are three kinds of loin: Loin (口ース, 130g serving), Superior Loin (上 ロース, 190g serving), and Special Loin (特ロース, 200g serving).

Loin is the lower cut and is moderately fatty and tender. Superior Loin is the upper cut and is the leanest. Special Loin is the middle cut and is the most fatty and tender.

Go for Special Loin (200g) if you are a big eater and feeling rich, otherwise Loin (130g) is good enough.

Step 2. Choose Pork Breed
Narikura offers several pork breeds:

– Yukimuro-Jukusei buta / Snow-Aged Pork (雪室熟成豚)
– Tokyo X
– Kirishima Kurobuta (霧島黒豚)
– Ainou Natural Pork (愛農)
– Kirifuri-Kogen (霧降高原豚)

The first four breeds are seasonal “specialty breeds” and are subject to change. During our visit only the Snow-Aged Pork and Kirishima Kurobuta were available.

The Snow-Aged Pork (雪室熟成豚) is supposed to be the most tender. This premium pork hails from Niigata. It is wet-aged in a snow-filled room at 0°C to 5°C temperature, at 89% to 95% humidity.

The Kirishima Kurobuta (霧島黒豚) is another popular choice. This premium black pork comes from Kagoshima and is very famous in Japan.

The last breed, Kirifuri-Kogen (霧降高原豚), is Narikura’s regular pork breed. It comes from the upland Tochigi Prefecture and is known for its light flavour and decent marbling. It is significantly cheaper than the specialty breeds.

Based on online reviews I read, there isn’t a big difference in taste between the regular Kirifuri-Kogen and the “specialty breeds”.

I can’t comment on this because I did not order the Kirifuri-Kogen. It’s up to you whether you are willing to pay the 25% premium for the specialty pork breeds. You can refer to the graph below to see the respective characteristics of the specialty breeds.

Note that each customer must at least order one dish.

Queuing System

I read several food blogs before the trip which mentioned that Narikura has a traditional queueing system, where customers have to wait in line outside the restaurant.

However, when we went down in November 2018, it seemed the restaurant had already changed to a new (and slightly more efficient) system.

When we reached, we were greeted by the restaurant hostess who told us we needed to pay a deposit of JPY1000 each to secure a place in the queue. We could then come back around one hour later to join the queue again.

To kill time, we decided to explore the nearby Big Box shopping centre which is just a 3 minute walk from Narikura. This 9-storey mall is home to retail shops, a bowling alley, internet cafe, arcade, and a bargain store.

After one hour, we went back to the restaurant, thinking we could enter the restaurant shortly. This was wishful thinking; we had to queue for another 45 minutes. During this time, the hostess took our orders.

It was pretty crazy that we had to wait so long despite going down on a Tuesday, but perhaps it was because we went during lunch hour at around 12.30pm.

Before you go down, I highly recommend that you check Narikura’s Twitter account for updates because they often run out of queue tickets for the day.

Friendly Service in a Cozy Space

And so after almost two hours, we finally got to enter the restaurant!

Narikura is located in the basement of a residential building. The cozy interior is dimly lit and can only seat about 20 people.

Yes that is Chef Mitani!

It has an open kitchen, where you can see the famous Chef Mitani and his kitchen crew preparing the food with typical Japanese efficiency.

The friendly staff served us our food with a smile immediately once we were seated.

Like most Japanese restaurants, there is a tacit rule that you’re supposed to leave immediately after eating. We did not see any customers staying behind to chit chat after finishing their meals.

The staff were all very polite. Chef Mitani and his crew even bowed and thanked us as we were leaving the restaurant!

Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 – Loin (130g)

I ordered the Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Loin 130g (JPY2580). This was by far the BEST tonkatsu I had ever eaten!

The cutlet coating was a perfect light golden-brown, and didn’t appear greasy or oily at all despite being fried for a long period.

The underlying juicy chunks of meat had a tantalising tinge of pink which reminded me of lightly seared tuna.

My first bite of the tonkatsu had me swooning. It reminded me of the first time I ate wagyu beef. It was so much more tender and juicy that I couldn’t believe it was actually pork!

As for the panko (bread crumb), it was unlike anything I had ever eaten too. It was super light and fluffy, but still crispy enough to provide crunch. It complemented the pork meat perfectly to produce a heavenly combination.

I recommend eating the tonkatsu on its own so you can fully savour its flavours. But if you wish, you can add a little brown tonkatsu sauce which provides a slight tang.

On the whole, Narikura’s tonkatsu was the perfect combination of savoury, sweet, fatty, crispy and sweet tastes. I will never look at tonkatsu the same again.

Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 – Fillet (100g)

We also ordered the Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Fillet 100g (JPY2580). This tasted awesome too.

Similarly, the tonkatsu meat was juicy, tender, and savoury. However, I felt that it wasn’t as mind-blowing as the loin version, because the meat wasn’t as tender.

However, it was still really delicious, and will be suitable for people who prefer leaner meat. Note that it is served in a smaller portion compared to the loin meat.

All tonkatsu orders come in a set with miso soup, freshly sliced cabbage, potato salad, seaweed, and Japanese pickles.

Conclusion

I’m usually cynical about queueing too long for food, especially when it’s ordinary Japanese comfort food priced at a premium. However, after having tried the tonkatsu from Narikura, I am definitely more than willing to queue again! This was hands-down the best tonkatsu I had ever eaten, and was totally worth the high price. While I have not checked out other popular tonkatsu restaurants like Tonkatsu Tonki or Maisen Tonkatsu, Narikura fares much better with its reviews on the trusted Tabelog.

Narikura (成蔵)
What to Order: Snow-Aged Pork 雪室熟成豚 Loin (JPY2580)
English Address: 1 Chome-32-11 Takadanobaba, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0075
Japanese Address: 〒169-0075 東京都新宿区高田馬場１丁目３２−11
Directions: 3 minute walk from Takadanobaba Station
Opening Hours: | 11am to 1.30pm, 5.30pm to 8pm | CLOSED on Thurs and Sun |
Phone: +813 6380 3823

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!