Kinjo-an

Few everyday lunches or dinners hit the spot quite like digging into a savory-sweet, egg-bound cutlet over rice and following each bite with cold or hot soba. At Kinjo-an in Nishi-Waseda, a fixture with generations of local patronage, the katsudon set matches a deep, richly flavored simmer sauce and tender breaded pork with firm-textured buckwheat noodles. Diners can take their soba cold as zaru or in warm broth, and can also upgrade to the premium jo-katsudon set for an even more tender cut of meat.

Tempura bowls and combination trays are just as popular as the pork cutlet. The house jo-tendon set features crisp, fragrant tempura including generous pieces of prawn and anago (conger eel) draped across the bowl, complemented by smooth-slurping noodles. The single-bowl noodle repertoire is equally broad, spanning tempura soba, duck-infused kamo nanban, and rich curry nanban soba, making it easy to settle on whatever fits the day’s mood.

The dining room spans ground-floor table seating and a second-floor area, giving single diners and larger parties plenty of room to unwind. Open for both lunch and evening service, and with takeout available, it serves as a dependable stop whenever an appetite for unpretentious Japanese fare calls in the Waseda neighborhood.