かつくら・三条本店 Katsukura @Kyoto

Mr J recommended this place to us, and warned us about the long queues at the Kyoto Station outlet, so we were pretty excited when we found the main shop near our hotel! There was a little entrance next to Lipton cafe, and opposite Jeugia, a guitar shop, and we had to walk through a small alley before reaching the restaurant.

We were comparing the English and Japanese menus, and discovered that for the English version, the main pork dishes all come in sets (additional ¥300 for unlimited servings of barley rice), but since we wanted to minimise our carbohydrates intake, we ordered via the Japanese menu instead:

• Yagoro Pork Tenderloin Cutlet やごろ豚 ヒレかつ (¥2100 for 160g, including tax): We opted for the most expensive version, and were very glad that we did! The meat was firm and juicy with just the right amount of fats, and it was deep fried really well, and the crust remained crispy throughout the entire meal. There was very little excess oil, so we did not feel greased out at all. From the website, it appears that Yagoro pork tenderloin is only available at the main outlet.
• Yuba Rolled Seasonal Vegetables Cutlet and Tenderloin Cutlet 冬野菜の湯葉巻きかつとヒレかつ (¥1360): The vegetables cutlet was similarly crispy outside, but was soft and creamy inside. The tenderloin that came with it was pretty good, but paled in comparison to the Yagoro pork tenderloin.
• Chicken Cutlet 国産 チキンかつ (¥800): We also tried the chicken version for more variety, and enjoyed it more than the normal tenderloin.
• Egg, Ham and Cheese Croquette 玉子とハムのチーズコロッケ(¥380 for one): It looked like a scotched egg and we had to try it! The yolk was yummily runny, but it was quite salty overall.

There was unlimited servings of cabbage for both pork dishes, but we only had to top up the cabbage once. The cabbage was cold and crunchy, making this meal feel even healthier 😛

Despite being a chain restaurant, the food was totally worth risking worsening of our sore throats 😛 We tried to drink more fruit and vegetable juice after the meal to boost our immune system, haha!