Rikitei - One of the best Tonkatsu in Ueda?
Rikitei
Planned to reach Ueda earlier in the afternoon to do some sightseeing prior to dinner at Rikitei, but some trains are cancelled in the afternoon (as still on recovery mode from Typhoon Hagibis) which I wasn’t aware.
But regards to food, come hell or high water I will go for it when I have planned. In short, we travelled to Ueda just for a dinner at Rikitei, is it worth it?
Rosu Set (¥1580)
Rosu is the fattier and thicker loin cut, which tends to be juicier. Whereas Hire is the leaner and tender fillet cut. It’s a personal preference, for me I definitely prefer the Rosu if all things equal.
Each set comes with (the obvious) pork cutlet, cabbage, rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables.
Straight to the star of the dish, pork cutlet is properly deep-fried, can feel the satisfying crunch when you bite through it, the batter is well balanced (not too thick that makes you feel like eating flour only or too thin that it is non-existent), and meat is moist and juicy.
Cabbage is fresh, miso soup, rice, and pickled vegetables are standard, nothing to complain but nothing outstanding.
There are free cabbage refills too when the staff (friendly obaasan) is doing the rounds at times.
Rating: 3.5/5
Hire Set (¥1680)
Wife ate this set, although I also tried a couple of pieces of the meat for testing too.
I agree with her evaluation, it is the same as the Rosu, but with a different cut of meat. So think of a more tender, but less fatty and juicy of the Rosu, and everything else is the same standard.
So it boils down to what is your preference for tonkatsu, though I’m sure that you won’t go wrong with either at this restaurant.
Rating: 3.5/5
A thick dark brown colour tonkatsu sauce to eat with your pork cutlet!
Each set also comes with a dish of pickled vegetables.
I believe this is a free dish of appetiser, as it was served at the start before the food we ordered arrive.
Overall
Is it worth the travel? For us, a definite yes since it is only 12 minutes shinkansen ride from Nagano (our hotel base for the 1st leg of our trip). Do try if you are in the city, or if you’re near this city and have JR pass to cover the shinkansen ride.
Is this the best or mind-blowingly good? No, but it’s a darn solid Tonkatsu we ever eaten.
Also the homely feel of the restaurant and friendly obaasan! Even though both of us don’t know the languages (Japanese for me, English for her), we can understand each other when comes to the terms “Rosu” and “Hire”.
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Address: 長野県上田市天神1丁目2−32 〒386-0025
Opening Hours: 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm Tuesday to Sunday
Payment Method: Cash
Website: http://db2.ueda.ne.jp/umaizou/?mode=detail&where=56
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/nagano/A2004/A200401/20005756/
(Last visited: October 2019)