Udagawa, Nihonbashi (宇田川)

You’ve noticed how I got onto a Nihonbashi kick recently, right? I’ve been to 10 places in the Muromachi neighborhood (near Mitsukoshi, just northeast of bridge itself) in the last two weeks. This place is a bit intriguing, with a real old-fashioned atmosphere on the outside, and a lunch menu focused on our fried friend, tonkatsu.

The counter seating is terrific in that rustic-yet-classy way these places always do. Funny to have a well-tended wooden counter in a katsu shop, but there it is. Their sauce and pickled cabbage were excellent, but the service and atmosphere were oddly unwelcoming. Then again, katsu places don’t stick in my memory as friendly. But, I hear you asking, what about the $64,000 question?

Here’s the cutlet in question. This is the regular level, only Y1200 but quite good. The meat was excellent quality, but the fry was softer and greasier than I like. I’m glad we got these instead of the Y2300 (!) high-level version, because while I can well believe the meat would be worth it, the frying and sides aren’t sufficiently good to justify inclusion in the top class of tonkatsu, which is where this is priced.

Then again, this is basically a steak place at night, so I guess it’s a good effort for lunch.

03-3241-4574