Tamura Ginkatsu-tei specializes in a single dish called Tofu Katsu-ni, a block of firm tofu stuffed with ground pork and cooked in a savory sauce with onions and egg. It’s the tofu version of the tonkatsu pork cutlet, and the tofu and breading made for a hearty meat substitute (though it wasn’t exactly vegetarian as it still contained meat). The Tofu Katsu-ni Gozen set also came with miso soup, rice, and tsukemono, along with a variety of appetizer bites including fish cake, shrimp, greens mixed with egg, butter wrapped with prosciutto, walnuts, and yam paste; along with a matcha pudding for dessert. For comparison’s sake, I also tried their Tonkatsu pork cutlet, served with cabbage salad, rice, tsukemono, and miso soup. While decent, only half of the pork cutlet was meaty and easy to eat, while the other half was extremely fatty. The highlight was still the tofu katsu, which was simple but extremely tasty. There was a good wait before we could get seated at this popular restaurant, but the service was quick and efficient.
