Matsunoya Tonkatsu – Japan’s Cheap Tonkatsu Chain Restaurant

More Matsunoya pork tonkatsu please – one of the best (and cheapest) tonkatsu chain restaurants in Japan, Matsunoya is a must visit next time you are in Japan.

With tonkatsu set meals starting from just 590 Yen (around £3 / $4 USD) in 2024, Japan’s Matsunoya is a great place to sit down and tuck into tasty tonkatsu and cheap combos.

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Part of the huge Matsuya Foods Group, Matsunoya is always very busy and popular (be prepared to queue at peak periods) and some Matsunoya restaurants are even open 24 hours – because good tonkatsu is timeless.

Here is our ultimate guide to eating at Matsunoya Tonkatsu Restaurants (with prices) in Japan in 2024:


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How many Matsunoya Tonkatsu restaurants are there in Japan?

As of 2024, there are over 370 Matsunoya Tonkatsu Restaurants in Japan (the exact figure is 379 restaurants as of March 2024).

There are 51 Matsunoya Osaka locations, 64 Matsunoya Tokyo locations and 6 Matsunoya Kyoto locations.

Matsunoya (松のや) is popular with all ages, especially workers at lunch and early evenings, plus students and young groups (as prices are so cheap and inexpensive).

Matsunoya is part of the Matsuya food group, whose biggest restaurant brand is the famous Matsuya restaurant which sells gyūdon, Japanese curry, and teishoku. There are over 1,030 Matsuya restaurants in Japan.

In total, the Matsuya food group has around 2,700 restaurants in Japan in 2024.

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan

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What food does Matsunoya Tonkatsu serve?

It isn’t just delicious tonkatsu (a fried pork cutlet coated in breadcrumbs) – Matsunoya serves up a wide range of foods from egg bowls at breakfast to croquettes to fried oysters.

Breakfast at Matsunoya is served from 4am to 11am. Popular breakfast dishes include the Tokucho pork loin cutlet set meal (for 530 Yen) which includes rice, cabbage, miso soup and nori seaweed, or the Tokucho sausage and egg set meal for 430 Yen.

For us, Matsunoya is all about tonkatsu, morning, noon and night – it is simple to order, the restaurants are always packed with a nice atmosphere and the food is cheap but tasty too.


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Tasty tonkatsu types

There are different types of tonkatsu, including pork loin, chicken plus even fried horse mackerel tonkatsu.

Curries are available too with a handful of curry dishes including “Matsunoya” croquette curry, lovely loin curry and fried shrimp curry.

We’ve generally stuck to pork and chicken tonkatsu in the past and all the dishes have been flavourful and delicious.

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan set meal

Whilst it isn’t our favourite tonkatsu ever*, Matsunoya Tonkatsu is surprisingly good given the low price, hence why we go back time and time again on every trip to Japan.

It is very much comfort food and sometime to enjoy after a long day of sightseeing or temple-hopping.

* Our favourite tonkatsu ever has to be Tonkatsu Oribe in Asakusa, as the pork is so tender. juicy and rare.


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Set meals and recommended sets

Most of the dishes available come as set menus – this means that the tonkatsu and other fried dishes are all available as sets which come with unlimited rice, miso soup, cabbage and sometimes nori seaweed.

The unlimited rice is a nice touch – after being served your initial set meal, if you want more rice, you go to a rice dispensing machine, put your empty bowl underneath and choose what portion size you want. Katsudon rice bowl dishes are excluded from rice refill.


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Ordering at Matsunoya

Eating at Matsunoya is a quick and simple process (and there is English translation on the ordering machines too).

As you walk into the restaurant, use the automated vending machines to place your order – upon checkout, you’ll be shown the price which you then pay at the machine using cash or card.

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan vending machine

A ticket is printed and issued – find a free seat and then get the server’s attention. They come over to you and tear your ticket in half (keep the other half as proof of purchase).

Your food is then brought to you by the waiter, generally about five to ten minutes later – enjoy!


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The Matsunoya experience

Inside the restaurants, you’ll find a combination of tables, private booths and shared countertop seats (which can be quite social, especially if the beer is flowing).

On your table, you’ll usually find a wide array of sauces including their special, thick tonkatsu sauce – go on, lather your cutlet in this rich and sublime sauce!

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan

Matusnoya often have seasonal specials or limited edition sauces – we went a bit crazy over their limited edition garlic butter sauce when it was out, visiting three times in three days (so delicious and only around 590 Yen for this superb set meal of tonkatsu with joyous garlic sauce).

We also noticed some Matsunoya restaurants had the iconic Japanese plastic food models outside showing what your meals would look like – we love it!

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan plastic food models

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Matsunoya menu

The Matsunoya menu offers various breakfast, lunch and dinner specials plus their recommended items.

Matsunoya also offer a children’s menu, side menu plus a dedicated curry menu

Check out the latest Matsunoya menu in Japan here  >

To translate the Matsunoya menu into English, just switch on Google translate.

Matsunoya Tonkastu menu Japan

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Matsunoya Prices

So one of the main attractions of Matsunoya (other than the brisk service and simple ordering system) is the low prices.

If you are travelling around Japan on a budget, Matsunoya is one of many cheap and cheerful Japanese restaurant chains that does tasty food at inexpensive prices.

Most set meals at Matsunoya cost between 530 Yen (at breakfast) to around 650 Yen for the more premium single tonkatsu meals like oni grated ponzu pork loin cutlet set meal.

One of our favourite Matsunoya food dishes is the Miso loin cutlet set meal for 690 yen which includes one pork cutlet, thick miso sauce, miso soup, cabbage and rice.

All Matsunoya prices and dishes listed above are correct as of March 2024 and exclude tax.

Matsunoya Tonkastu chain restaurant Japan

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Matsunoya opening hours

Of the 379 Matsunoya restaurants in Japan, around 100 are open 24 hours a day, whilst the majority seem to open early morning between 4am and 8am (for breakfast) and close between 10pm and 3am.


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Other things to know

  • There is a Matsuya app (including Matsunoya) which reached 3 million members in 2024! Sign up to get discounts in all the Matsuya restaurants.
  • In 2024, they introduced a ‘Sasami Katsu’ which is a crispy fried chicken fillet that is high in protein and low in fat (so you can eat twice as much – probably).

  • Recent limited edition sauce flavours included ‘red salsa’ and ‘black mapo’.

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