Epais

Who doesn’t love deep-fried, breaded pork cutlets? Tonkatsu is an art form, and Epais in the Kita-Shinchi district is one of the best in Osaka. It’s not the easiest place to find so give yourself some time to locate it before popping in.

[Epais - image © Florentyna Leow]

If you’re a meat-eater, deep-fried, breaded pork cutlets are a universal crowd-pleaser, and few cultures do it better than Japan. Tonkatsu elevates the fried cutlet to an art form, and Epais is one of the best places in Osaka to get your fix.

Epais isn’t the easiest restaurant to locate. You’ll find it on the third floor of the ochre-coloured New Hana building. During the day, the street will look quiet and the building itself will look entirely shut. Don’t worry about it and head upstairs.

Once you do find Epais, you’ll be rewarded with one of the finest tonkatsu meals in the city. It’s not a complicated meal by any means - it’ll look pretty much like any other tonkatsu set meal you see at other restaurants. Rice, shredded cabbage, soup, and a cutlet. But taste-wise, it’s leagues ahead of your average joint. To use the usual adjectives like ‘juicy,’ ‘succulent,’ ‘meaty,’ and ‘tender’ wouldn’t even begin to do justice to their tonkatsu; suffice to say there’s a reason that queues here often spill down into the stairwells.

Not only is Epais in Tabelog’s list of top 100 tonkatsu restaurants in Japan, the Michelin Guide has also tipped its hat to this tiny restaurant. Reservations aren’t completely necessary, but given its popularity, we recommend making one if you can.

For more Osaka tonkatsu choices, see our Best Tonkatsu In Osaka page.

English name:
Epais

Japanese name:
エペ

English address:
3F New Hana bldg., 1-9-3 Sonezaki-shinchi, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, 530-0002

Japanese address:
〒530-0002 大阪市北区曽根崎新地1-9-3 ニュー華ビル3F

Opening hours:
11am-3pm, 6pm-10pm
Closed Sunday and national holidays

Price:

Non-smoking section:
No (11am-3pm: Completely Non-Smoking)

Reservations:
Possible

Nearest Transport:
Train: 2-minute walk from exit 11-43 of Kitashinchi Station on the JR Tozai Line.
Subway: 6-minute walk from exit H-81 of Higashi-Umeda Station on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line.

Telephone:
+81-6-6347-6599

Website:
none

Customer Reviews:
Read customer reviews of Epais on TripAdvisor.

Near To Here:
Epais is located in Osaka’s Kita and Umeda district. See our complete list of things to do in the Kita and Umeda district, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.

Best Osaka Restaurants
See our list of the best Osaka restaurants for even more ideas about great places to eat in Osaka.

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