In Hong Kong there are a couple of places where you can find authentic Japanese yakitori (chicken skewers cuisine). One of these is Yardbird. Hardly a hidden secret, Yardbird has been very popular since its inception in 2011. Luckily towards the end of 2017 they moved to a larger location in Sheung Wan and now if you show up the at right time (maybe between 6 or 7pm) during a weekday with a little bit of luck you do not have to queue. As in many successful yakitori places in Japan, they do not take reservations. At the helm of this restaurant a relatively young Canadian chef, Matt Abergel.
What? Wait? How can a Canadian chef serve the best yakitori in town? I think I understood by reading this interview to Matt. According to the interview, Matt “first fell in love with grilled meat on a stick when he was 17 years old and went to Japan after graduating from high school”. Retrospectively, all of his career built up to opening a yakitori place. I guess that when you care and have enough passion, you can make up any geographical and cultural disadvantage. This is certainly the case for Yardbird that is an independent restaurant, not another offspring of a chain trying to capitalize on the latest gastronomic trend.
The visit
I got a table on a calm Tuesday evening arriving around 7pm. I got one of thet last spots at the counter. I think that during the evening it would have been possible for a solo diner to find a place, more difficult for a group. What enticed me to try the venue and learn more about it was not only my passion for yakitori, but also the positive experience that I had with Ronin, a more recent creation of the same group behind Yardbird.
When I stepped in I could recognize the same relaxed and yet sophisticated atmosphere and the same friendly and hipster staff.
The menu is not limited to yakitori, but the skewers are certainly the star. The gallery below shows what I got. A digression on my only non-skewer-dish: it was a katsu sando, or a Japanese cutlet sandwich. This was uber-delicious. In practice, what I got was a lightly bread crumb coated fried chicken with seasonings between sandwich bread buns. Double. The flavor was just fantastic, all the ingredients worked well together.
My choice of skewers included skin (nicely crispy, with sake and sea salt), heart (with a lot of spring onion, good flavor even without condiments), the hardly-seen thyroid (very chewy, with strong flavor), miso breast (with an accent of parsley, basil, and garlic), the classic meatball with egg yolk dip, fillet (with yuzu and miso), inner tigh (with pepper and sea salt).
I liked all the skewers; the flavor was always distinct and delicious, even in the difficult parts such as thyroid and the heart. My only complaint is that the skewers tended to come out burned just a tad too much (but not at a point to compromise the flavor).
The check
I spent a total of 534 HKD equivalent to 68 USD for 7 skewers and and the cutlet sandwich, including an expensive bottle of water (that in these fine dining establishments I kind of accept as a form of cover charge). This is just a little bit more expensive than what I paid for an excellent yakitori in Osaka just a few weeks earlier (around 55 USD for appetizer, 8 skewers and an additional dish if I only account for one person). Comparisons are tricky. We all know that fine dining is expensive in Hong Kong. Overall I would say that the price point is acceptable for the quality of the experience and the work that takes place behind the scenes. By the way, they do not apply compulsory service charge (usually 10%) and invite you to tip if you are happy with the service. This is a place where I would certainly go back and honestly I cannot say the same for a lot of other fine dining places I tried in Hong Kong.
Bonus
In May 2018 Matt Abergel published a book titled Chicken and Charcoal (Phaidon Press, 240 pages) that goes into specifics about his knowledge of yakitori. The book is richly illustrated and covers topics such as how to break down a chicken to obtain all those exotic parts that you find in real yakitori menus, how to grill them using charcoal, how to marinate them and make the right sauces and even how to choose the right drink pairings. While at time of writing the book is not available for delivery on Amazon (release date in October 2018), I could browse a copy in an Hong Kong bookstore and I was impressed. I see it as an additional piece of evidence of Matt’s passion for what he does. It is on my wishlist (but this time I just did not have space left in my baggage…).
Where in Hong Kong:
G/F, 154-158 Wing Lok Street Sheung Wan
Address in Chinese: 上環 154-158 永樂街
For more information including the menu see their website.