Honest Bao

Belated Happy New Year, I’ve just touched down back in the UK after two weeks of eating my way through Japan, so buckle up—there’s a massive series of Tokyo food posts coming your way! First impressions? The Yen is still low, but don't let that fool your wallet—prices are creeping up and "value for money" isn't the absolute steal it used to be. To kick off the Japan Series, let’s talk Tonkatsu. I pitted a budget local hero against a mid-level contender to see if your extra Yen actually buys you a better crunch. 1. The Budget King: Tonkatsu Yamabe (Ueno Ten)とんかつ山家 First up is Tonkatsu Yamabe in Ueno. Spending 30 minutes in line for dinner, which leads me to my first gripe: Japan’s queuing culture. As a tourist, standing on a pavement for half an hour feels like a personal attack on my itinerary. Budget friendly tonkatsu This is a solid, blue-collar Tonkatsu. The crust is crispy without being "shatter-your-teeth" hard. However, the pork was a bit tougher than ...