Tonkatsu Taro
Niigata · Niigata City
37.9208°N, 139.0442°E
Niigata's katsudon has no egg in it. Thin pork cutlets are fried, dipped straight into a soy-based tare while still hot, and laid over rice — that is the whole dish. It is faster, lighter and much less sweet than the simmered egg-bound katsudon eaten everywhere else in Japan, and in Niigata it is simply what katsudon means.
Tonkatsu Taro in the Furumachi district is where the form was set, in the years before the war, and the shop is still the reference point locals send visitors to. The cutlets are cut thin deliberately so that more surface takes the tare, and a bowl carries four to five of them. A branch inside Niigata Station opened after the main shop came close to closing, which makes the dish reachable in the gap between trains.
Essential Information
Opening Hours
Station branch (CoCoLo Niigata) 11:00 AM – 8:30 PM (last order 8:00 PM) | Furumachi shop hours differ — confirm before travelling
Closed: Varies by branch — confirm before travelling
Entrance Fee
¥1,400 for katsudon at the station branch
Best Season
Year-round
Visit Duration
30–45 minutes
Getting There
Access Information
Insider Guide
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