Ate pork cutlet and tofu set meal at Tamura Ginkatsu Tei Harune Odawara Ten

On the first night of our 12-day self-driving trip through Hakone, Kawaguchiko, and Hokkaido, we had dinner at Tamura Ginkatsu Tei Harune Odawara Ten, located in the underground shopping area of Odawara Station (田むら銀かつ亭小田原駅地下店).

After enjoying hydrangeas in the afternoon by taking the Hakone Tozan Railway, we drove back down the mountain and headed straight to check in at Toyoko Inn Odawara-eki Higashi-guchi, where we would be staying for the night.

Once we dropped off our luggage, we walked over to Odawara Station for dinner. To our surprise, it was already getting late and only about two groups of customers were still dining in.

Since the last order was taken at 8:30 PM, we quickly placed our orders for the restaurant’s signature dish: Tofu Katsu-ni Set Meal (豆腐かつ煮定食) and a couple of other set meals.In addition to the must-try tofu katsu-ni, we ordered the Tenderloin Pork Cutlet Set Meal (ヒレかつ定食) and the Loin Pork Cutlet Set Meal (ロース定食). The menu was in Japanese only, so we did our best to translate and choose what we wanted.

Soon, the tofu katsu-ni was served. It looked truly special — minced pork was sandwiched inside specially prepared deep-fried tofu, resulting in an incredibly soft texture. Paired with a flavorful broth and sweet onions, it went perfectly with white rice.

The tenderloin pork cutlet set was also delicious. We started by enjoying the shredded cabbage with their house sauce, then ate the pork cutlet piece by piece with rice. It was so satisfying that we finished it in no time. Even the pickled vegetables on the side were tasty, and the set came with miso soup as well.

The loin pork cutlet was also deep-fried to a golden crisp. The pieces were large and crunchy, offering a completely different texture. Once again, it went so well with rice that we couldn’t stop eating until the plates were clean.