Hokuto

Nice local spot for tonkatsu. My wife and I are from Australia and is somewhere that tourists would not visit as it is a small hideaway kind of restaurant. The owner/chef was friendly and you could see how much attention he put into his cooking. Very friendly too and definitely a more authentic eating spot!

Love this place for the past 30 years. Hiro is a gentleman. #tonkatsu

"If there are a hundred ginger pork restaurants, then there will be a hundred flavors of ginger pork."

Under the iron tower, close to Shiba Dai Shrine, there is a Shitamachi scenery that is rare in high-end areas. There are low wooden houses that are rare in the port area, and the old and mottled Japanese-style eaves seem to have been here for decades.

This alley that seems to have been forgotten in Minato City was discovered by me after visiting Shiba Dai Shrine. It is located in a small alley next to the shrine. What first attracted me was the spicy Nepalese curry that many people were sweating after eating. After my second visit, it was this old pork chop rice restaurant with a strong nostalgic atmosphere.

But what attracts me is not the pork chop rice, but the ginger pork set meal that smells the strong aroma of ginger when I walk through the door of the store.

You may think that ginger pork is just ginger pork and there is nothing special to discuss. However, this traditional Japanese family delicacy is not only different in every family, but also the ginger pork in every restaurant is very different.

Some ginger pork has been marinated and has a thick color. Some pork is fried more brown, some is sweeter, and some use the three-layer meat part. Each family has its own characteristics.

This is the price for dinner, the lunch price is slightly cheaper. The business type is different in the evening and noon. Compared with the small restaurant that provides business lunch at noon, in the evening it is a small izakaya where seniors and juniors come to have dinner and have a drink.

Ginger pork set meal: 800 yen.

I ate everywhere in Japan, and I actually gained some insights. For restaurants that specialize in pork chop rice, most of the pork is well-chosen. For example, the Dominglasa sauce in Western restaurants is generally not too bad. Hokuto's ginger pork is mainly made from thick-cut tenderloin, and is pan-fried with a lighter-colored and sweeter sauce to achieve a brown color. The fat part is soft and tender, the lean part is juicy, and the sauce is fragrant. There is a slight hint of ginger in the mouth, without any fishy smell, and it can be paired well with a big mouthful of rice.