Genkatsu
Have it your way at this cozy Yokohama tonkatsu restaurant

Photos by Koji Nomura

The first time we visited Genkatsu, we were mystified by the number “25” written in big numerals on our placemats. Was the restaurant celebrating its silver anniversary? Does the number hold some kind of kabbalistic significance?
Or was it, as we hoped, a special promotion where everything was discounted by 25 percent?

Even better. It turns out that 25 refers to the number of whisper-thin slices of pork that make up each one of Genkatsu’s bulky cutlets. This explains why their insides are so juicy and airy, and it also explains how the chefs are able to season the meat with interesting ingredients like negi and ume, which are encased within the delicate folds of feathery pork.

Genkatsu is the sister restaurant of Ebisu’s renowned Kimukatsu, which popularized this “mille-feuille-style” meat dish. It’s certainly proved a success—on a recent Saturday night, we had to cool our heels on Genkatsu’s stairwell while waiting for a table to come free. Once inside, we enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere of the small space, which has counter seats, a bunch of two-person booths and a couple of larger tables. Glancing around, we noticed that our fellow diners were typical Motomachi denizens: families and couples finishing up a day of shopping and sightseeing with a casual meal.

The restaurant’s standard dish is the tonkatsu set (¥1,950), which includes the usual lineup of miso soup, rice, pickles and mountainous heaps of cabbage. Diners can choose from plain pork cutlets or those seasoned with ume, black pepper, garlic, leek or even cheese. Everything looked good, so we opted for the three-cutlet set (¥3,980), which proved to be a goodly amount of food for the two of us. Hearty eaters or large parties can opt for the 4- (¥5,400) or even 5-cutlet (¥6,800) menus.

When our meal arrived, the pork and all its trimmings fairly overwhelmed the small tabletop—especially with condiments like miso paste and salt thrown in the mix. The tonkatsu, nestled next to each other on wire racks, were each fantastic in their own way: the chopped negi provided a hint of crunchiness, while the garlic added a flavor that we’ve never tasted in tonkatsu before. The black-pepper cutlet, like all the others, was so distinctively seasoned that we eschewed the traditional thick black sauce.

Genkatsu is open until just 9:30pm, even on weekends, so get there while you can—and give yourself plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the new meaning of “25.

3-124 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama. Tel: 045-212-1129. Open Mon-Fri 11am-3pm and 5-9:30pm, Sat-Sun and hols 11am-10pm. Menu in Japanese. Nearest stn: Motomachi-Chukagai. www.genkatsu.com

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