Dig into a juicy pork cutlet sandwich while listening to the sound of station announcements and trains passing by at this comfy kissaten (old-school café) inside the Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway’s Senri-Chuo Station.
New Astoria, in the restaurant corridor overlooking the station concourse, has been doing its thing largely unchanged for half a century, and the chefs sure seem to have perfected the art of the katsu sando over the years. Their version, available with or without vegetables, begins by grilling toast lightly over a hotplate before smearing the slices with tartare sauce. Then come the fillings: tomato, lettuce and onion, followed by a thick cutlet drenched with seafood sauce. A dollop of katsu sauce completes the mouth-watering package, which is best paired with a cup of black coffee, available here in ‘mild’ and ‘strong’ varieties.