Tanakatsu Katsu Sando in Angel: Lunch Hours Worth the Walk

Tanakatsu, at 10 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7LT, is the Angel restaurant to know when a katsu sando is the whole point of lunch. Its official menu lists a Katsu Sandwich with leafy green salad, chicken or pork, for £11.50, served from 12:00 to 15:00 only. The rest of the day belongs to katsu plates, teriyaki and sushi, so the sandwich rewards anyone who plans a weekday or Saturday lunch around it rather than wandering in for dinner and hoping.

The restaurant's own access page points visitors to Angel station first, and the walk from there takes you off the busy shopping strip into quieter streets. That is part of the charm. The room feels like a neighbourhood place rather than a destination built for passing crowds, so look for the street number instead of a big illuminated sign. Inside, the menu is easy to navigate, and the kitchen is centred on katsu, the dish the restaurant is named after. That focus is exactly what you want from a sandwich whose whole appeal depends on a crust that still crackles when it reaches the table.

The official menu gives you a single fork in the road. The Katsu Sandwich comes with either chicken or pork, and it is served with a leafy green salad rather than chips, which keeps a fried lunch feeling lighter than it sounds. Pork is the classic katsu sando filling and the richer of the two, with more savoury depth against the bread. Chicken is the gentler choice if you want the crisp crumb coating to lead. Either way, eat some of the salad between halves rather than saving it for the end. The fresh leaves reset your palate so the second half tastes as sharp as the first.

Tanakatsu opens Monday to Saturday from 12:00 to 22:00, with last orders at 21:20, and stays closed on Sunday. The sandwich keeps lunch hours only, 12:00 to 15:00, and the menu marks it as a lunch-only option alongside the bento box. That makes timing the one real piece of strategy. Arriving at noon gives you the widest choice of seats and the calmest kitchen. Arriving after half past two leaves very little margin if the room is busy, and a sando that has to be wolfed down to beat the cutoff is a waste of good frying. If your plans only allow an evening visit, order a katsu plate instead and save the sandwich for another day.

The story behind the name is on the restaurant's own About page. Tanakatsu combines co-founder Koko's surname, Tanaka, with katsu, the dish at the centre of the menu. Before opening in Angel, Koko and chef Joe built a following through pop-ups at Camden Market and in Farringdon. In 2021, after five years of running the Angel restaurant, they brought in Jakub as a business partner, a chef Joe had first hired as a commis back in 2008 in Guernsey. That background explains the tone of the place. It is a personal, founder-run operation rather than a chain, and the katsu sandwich feels like the kind of dish that earned its permanent home one market crowd at a time.

A katsu sando is about proportion, so eat it in a deliberate order. Start at a corner to feel how the cutlet sits against the bread, then move to the centre, where the meat is thickest and the coating has the most contrast. If the sandwich arrives cut, look at the exposed edge before your first bite. It tells you everything about the ratio of meat to crumb, and it is a better guide than reaching for extra condiments. The pleasure here is temperature and texture, which fade quickly once steam softens the crust, so give the plate your full attention for the first few minutes.

There is no need to construct a sprawling order. A solo diner can make a complete lunch of one Katsu Sandwich at £11.50 with its salad. Two people who want to compare can order one chicken and one pork and swap halves, which is the clearest way to understand what the kitchen does with each. If one of you wants something bigger, the lunch bento box, listed at £21.50, adds chicken kara-age, a pumpkin croquette, seaweed salad, sushi of the day and miso soup to a main of chicken katsu, pork katsu, or chicken or salmon teriyaki. That combination lets a pair share one table without both ordering the same thing.

Tanakatsu works best for people who can shape a day in Angel around lunch. It is a strong pick when you want a proper Japanese katsu sandwich rather than a generic grab-and-go roll, and it suits a solo lunch, a catch-up with one friend, or a working lunch that will not stretch into the afternoon. It is less suitable for a Sunday plan, since the restaurant is closed, or for anyone who only has evenings free and specifically wants the sandwich. The restaurant also runs takeaway and delivery through its site, but a fried sandwich is at its best eaten at the table, a few steps from the kitchen.

Once the plate is clear, Angel offers an easy extension. Walk east to the Regent's Canal at City Road Basin, where the towpath gives you a quiet stretch of water after a rich lunch. Head north instead and Upper Street has independent shops and cafés, while Camden Passage, with its antique dealers and small boutiques, is a short detour off Islington High Street. Keep the afternoon loose. The point of a lunch-only sandwich is that it anchors your day without demanding a second booking, so let the neighbourhood fill the rest.

Tanakatsu, at 10 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7LT, is a short walk from Angel station. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 22:00, with last orders at 21:20, and the restaurant is closed on Sunday. The Katsu Sandwich, chicken or pork with leafy green salad, costs £11.50 and is served 12:00 to 15:00. The lunch bento box is £21.50. If you are meeting someone, agree on a time in the first half of the lunch window.

Tanakatsu is a good answer to a London katsu sando search when you want the sandwich to be the point of the outing. The choice is simple, chicken or pork, the price is fair for central London at £11.50 with a salad, and the 12:00 to 15:00 window keeps the visit purposeful. Skip it on a Sunday or if you can only come in the evening. Go on a weekday or Saturday when you can arrive hungry near noon, order one sandwich, and eat it while the crust still has something to say.