Home/Okayama/Okayama City/Demi-katsu Don

Demi-katsu Don

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

demi-katsu dondemi-glaceOkayama Citypork cutletlocal specialty

Okayama · Okayama City

34.6652°N, 133.9238°E

The line outside Demi-katsu Don, if there is one, is usually a better sign than a review score.

Okayama's katsudon comes under demi-glace. It should not work and it has been the city's dish for ninety years.

The sauce is the labour: reduced over days, and every shop that serves demi-katsu don in Okayama guards its own. Around a dozen restaurants make a version, from the originator's counter near the city centre to diners that treat it as ordinary lunch. Ordering plain katsudon in Okayama will usually get you this unless you specify the egg-bound kind.

Before you eat

Serving hours

Ajitsukasa Nomura 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Tuesday–Friday | 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM weekends and public holidays

Closed: Closed Mondays, or the following day when Monday is a public holiday

What it costs

A bowl of demi-katsu don typically runs ¥1,000–1,500 — confirm current pricing at the restaurant

Best time to go

Year-round

Time to allow

45 minutes – 1 hour

Access route

Directions

Ajitsukasa Nomura at Heiwa-cho 1-10, Kita Ward, Okayama City, about a short walk from Okayama Station. Closed Mondays, or the following day when Monday is a public holiday. Around a dozen other restaurants in the city serve their own versions with individual hours.

Beyond the guidebook

**Say demi-katsu if you want the egg version instead.** In Okayama the default katsudon on many menus is this one. Asking for the Tokyo style needs to be explicit. **The peas are not decoration.** They have been on it since the 1930s and shops that leave them off get told about it. **Weekday hours are lunch only at the originator.** Weekends have an evening sitting. **The sauce takes days.** This is a French reduction made in a Japanese tonkatsu shop, and the shops that are proud of it will tell you how long theirs simmers. **Okayama Castle and Korakuen are nearby on foot.** Lunch here fits into the standard city day without a detour.