Gourmet tonkatsu. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, as implausible as haute cuisine hot dogs or Michelin-starred jellied eels. Surely those breaded, deep-fried "cutlets" of pork can be nothing but comfort food: fatty, filling and reassuringly easy on the budget.
Try telling that to the folks at Butagumi. They take this humble staple and elevate it to hitherto unheard of levels of refinement. What's different? Just about everything.
First, there's the neighborhood. This low-lying residential enclave just north of the Nishi-Azabu Crossing is still far from swank, but it's gentrifying rapidly and has the restaurants to prove it. Butagumi — literally the "Pig Gang" — fits the new, affluent demographic comfortably.