Tonkatsu Daiki

It has a great reputation and it delivers! Really solid food, tasty home-cooked style. The frying is soft and flavoursome, the cuts of pork are spot on. It’s about as good as you’d expect from a place like this. Does it exceed my expectations? No. But it’s definitely worth coming to. They do a “full-house” style service where the new group of clients all sit together and they don’t let new people in until the place is cleared. This can mean an hour wait for every 10-12 people in the queue. I waited for an hour and it was worth it.

This little joint served the best tonkatsu of our lives! I visited with a group of four friends, and we all agreed unanimously – it was phenomenal. The pork was perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, with flavours that truly set it apart. Even the sauces were special, clearly made in-house, and tasted much better than the standard ones you find elsewhere. The place is small, so be prepared to wait. We hesitated at first when we saw the 45-minute queue, but it was absolutely worth it. A must visit in Osaka!

There was already a long queue ahead despite arriving around 20 min before the opening time. Customers enter as batches of 10-15 people each time and there's a 1h wait till the next batch enters! The food was really good and the chef took his time to explain and recommend each cut of the meat! The pork fillet was really juicy, sweet and tender despite it being the leanest cut with no fat Overall, the dining experience was great and definitely worth the 1h wait in my opinion :)

The tonkatsu was amazing, very juicy inside and crispy outside. Would definitely recommend! We didn’t have to queue for too long for lunch, maybe ~20-30 minutes. One thing to note is that they don’t allow kids in the restaurant as it is quite small, hence the long queue.

Quite simply amazing. Service was impeccable as the chef was very friendly and accommodating. He spoke English quite well. We ordered the fillet and the fattier cut. The tonkatsu was a combination of juicy, tender, flaky, and crispy. The cabbage salad, pickled vegetables and sauces all complemented each other wanting you to eat more. This will be one of my go-to spots in Osaka from now on.

Best food highlight for my japan trip. Tonkatsu is juicy at every bite even thought its the non fatty part of the pork, sauce compliments it well. You can add more rice when you finish your food! And miso soup. Would recommend the pork loin for first timer, even though curry is nice too.

If there’s a queue, each sitting takes about an hour to clear. There are tables that seat 4-1-4-4 and counter seats that seat 4. But it’s great that they don’t squeeze folks in. If there might be just a couple sitting in the table for 4. Be the first 10 in the queue when it opens saves the hour wait. We ordered a 250g loin set and an mos set with white fish and prawn and loin. I think the fish was the yummiest.

So good we lined up twice! Food was utterly delicious. Bib Gourmand 3 years running. On our first visit we had the pork fillet and the pork shoulder (the fattier cut) both were absolutely delicious, perfectly cooked, juicy, flavoursome, crisp outer layer and so tender. Meals are accompanied by rice, pickles and a cabbage salad with 2 sauces for dipping which were amazing for cutting through the rich meat. On our second visit we again had the pork fillet, but also wanted to try the curry which was delicious with a perfect amount of heat. Service was also very good. Husband and wife team work seamlessly together. The chef making sure to visit each table and have small interactions which I observed the tables around me to enjoy. We were the last ones in the restaurant last night and both were happy to have a chat and talk to us about their business and life in Osaka. Very pleasant indeed. We arrived on the first occasion right on 5:30 and had a short wait (around 30 minutes), but arrived much later into service the second visit (around 19:20) so was waiting a little over an hour in the line. Again the owner came out to check on the line and update on waiting times regularly. 1000% worth the wait.