There are a few places in Hamamatsu famous for tonkatsu, and Tonbei is one of them.
On the way
Nice weather.
The entrance
It’s small and easy to miss. I have no idea how everyone managed to find the good places back when there was no car navigation.
The sign
It had a certain presence to it.
Yebisu draft beer
It was a hot day, so of course I had to have one.
The basic spread
If you look closely there is potato salad too, which was plenty to go with a drink as a palate cleanser.
Rice and miso soup
There is nothing more to say about rice in Japan.
Tonkatsu
It is the thinly fried style.
The meat
The quality of the meat goes without saying, and the cooking was as close to perfect as it gets. It was a tonkatsu that felt like the very limit of low-temperature cooking. In Korea, when you go to a tonkatsu place that is supposed to be good, the queue is long and the taste is nothing special.. but in Japan you can eat tonkatsu at this level without queueing at all, which is great.
Sauce
Simple.
Miso soup
Packed with clams.
A curious bottle I spotted at a liquor store nearby
It is a Kamen Rider liquor, and it costs 300,000 yen..
A gibier place I came across while walking by
I found a place with all sorts of gibier on the menu. I should go sometime. Though I have no idea when that will be.
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