Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten, Omote-sando, Tokyo, Japan

My final day in Japan had arrived and I jumped on the train and headed out towards Meiji Jingu.

I wandered up the slight hill from Meiji-jingumae Station towards Omote-sando Station with no firm intention other than to have one final great meal.

A quick recon of my map app showed me there was a highly recommended tonkatsu restaurant up in the side streets behind the Omotesando Hills shopping centre.

Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten, Omote-sando, Tokyo, Japan

I took a leisurely stroll through the back streets past a number of upmarket shops and finally found Tonkatsu Maisen. I actually walked past it at first but soon the GPS had me doubling back.

The restaurant was busy when I arrived with most of the seats at the counter already taken. I was offered one of the spare seats. By the time I left there was queue of people waiting.

I ordered a beer while I looked through the menu.

If you like pork you will love this place. As the name suggests Tonkatsu is the house specialty.

I ordered a crumbed and deep fried Black Pork loin with rice, miso and cabbage.

It took about 15 minutes for my meal to be ready and it was worth the wait. It was one of the best tonkatsu dishes, and most memorable meals, that I’d had during my trip.

And with that final, splendid lunch my eating adventures for this Japan trip, apart from some small snacks and a couple of drinks in the JAL First Class Lounge at Narita Airport, are over for another year.