Yayoi

A thick pork loin cutlet, simmered with egg and served over rice, comes with miso soup and pickles in Yayoi’s premium katsudon. Diners have described the egg as tender rather than overcooked, and the seasoning as neither too sweet nor too salty. Another reviewer appreciated the substantial cutlet coated in a sweet-and-savoury sauce. At 1,400 yen, it makes a filling set meal for when you want something hearty.

For a different take on tonkatsu, the loin tonkatsu set is served in a Western-style preparation with the restaurant’s traditional demi-glace sauce. One diner recalled a well-fried cutlet with tender meat, and found that the sauce worked particularly well with the fatty loin. It made for a meal that went down well with rice. If you’re choosing between the two, this is the sauce-led alternative to the egg-topped katsudon.

For a Chinese-style dish, chilled mapo noodles cost 1,000 yen. One diner liked the texture of the tofu, while others have ordered the noodles alongside katsudon or gyoza. If you’d rather make noodles the main event, there’s also a set combining cold dipping noodles with half a portion of fried rice. A diner who tried it enjoyed the contrast between noodles chilled in cold water and warm dipping broth, and noted the fried rice’s soy-sauce flavour.

The menu also includes gyoza and fried wontons in a sweet sauce; one diner enjoyed the latter with beer. Yayoi is open for lunch and dinner, and offers both dine-in and takeaway.