Most guidebooks will tell you that Tonki has the best tonkatsu in Tokyo. After eating there, I’m willing to believe them.

The trick is finding the place. These pictures are descriptive rather than scenic, so they go below the fold:

Take the Yamanote Line to Meguro Station, leave by the west exit, walk to the nearest major intersection, and look for this pachinko parlor on the left side of the street:

Go up to it, turn left, and look for this:

You should end up right about here. The actual entrance looks like this when they’re open:

They open at 4pm, and there’s often a line. We got there a few minutes after opening, and they were about 90% full already. When they take your order, there are only two choices, rosu (fattier cut, literally “roast”) and hire (leaner cut, literally “fillet”). You can get lovingly gift-wrapped takeout, eat at the tables upstairs, or sit at the first-floor counter and watch the cutlets being prepared.