Tonkatsu Daiki

Once a teishoku (traditional Japanese set meal) restaurant in Osaka, the second-generation owner had transformed Daiki into a tonkatsu specialty. Now a Bib Gourmand-rated joint, it may not reinvent the wheel with its pork cutlets, but what it does, it does exceptionally well. Using premium pork from Kagoshima Prefecture, the breaded, deep-fried cutlets are textbook perfect — juicy, tender and fried in salad oil at low temperatures to achieve optimal crispiness. The menu itself is an entry-level encyclopedia for amateur pork lovers. Detailed illustrations inform guests about the various parts of the pork, indicating where each cutlet comes from and its fat-to-lean meat ratio. Hire katsu is made with lean pork tenderloin, while rosu katsu uses a richer cut with a strip of fat along the side. Beyond the perfectly simple deep-fried cutlets, the menu expands to exciting variations of other perfectly golden cutlets with oozing cheese or those resting in a pool of curry. For a meal that warms the body, opt for katsutoji — katsu simmered on a hot plate in a sweet sauce with eggs. Affordable set meals typically include rice and miso soup. A trio of sauces — oroshi ponzu, daikon sauce, and miso katsu sauce — allows you to enjoy the pork cutlets in various flavorful ways.