Located in out-of-the-way Ikegami in Tokyo’s Ota ward, Enraku is rated as a top-10 tonkatsuya. The chef is a senpai of Mitani Seizo (then owner-chef of Narikura, arguably the best tonkatsu shop in Tokyo) when both trained at the original Enraku in Shimbashi. Yet unlike his kohai, he offers a meal that is delcious and drama-free: with no sudden closings, sudden changes to the ticket system, or cuts to the menu. The meal at Enraku was a delicious and pleasant counterpoint to the shambolic meal I had at Narikura, where I got a terrible cut of meat that was roughly about 50% fat.
Enraku’s chef is rightly proud of his ingredients: the pork is from Yamagata, the rice from Nagano, the lard derived from the middle of the pig rather than the more backfat that most other tonkatsu shops use, and the panko breading and potato salad are both made in-house. The filet was fried to a nice pink in the middle, there was plenty of cabbage (unlike Narikura), there was potato salad (and plenty of it), and the tonjiru (豚汁 pork -miso soup) could’ve been a meal in of itself as it was loaded with just a ton of ingredients.
Plenty of choices on the menu, including loin, filet, fried shrimp, mix, and even katsudon and curry katsu. But unlike most other tonkatsu shops, there’s only one size for each option. Not really that big of a deal. Only other complaints are that the lighting is bad for photography, and its location all the way out in Ota-ku. But that may well be a silver lining, as there won’t be the lines here as there are at Narikura, Tonta, etc. Well worth continued future patronage.
Rating: Strong Recommend
とんかつ燕楽 (Tonkatsu Enraku)
東京都大田区池上6-1-4
Ikegami Station (Tokyu Ikegami Line)
