In my trips to Japan I always try to include a high-end yakitori (grilled chicken skewers). I had some particularly good in Osaka (Ueda and Ichimatsu). This was my first Michelin-starred yakitori in Tokyo. Please note that there is another restaurant with the same name in Shinagawa. The starred one where I went is in Sumida, near Kinshicho Station.
The visit
Needless to say, I had a reservation, for an early dinner (the exact time was chosen by the restaurant). At 5.30pm the door opened. I and three Japanese were the first customers and we were quickly seated.
I thought everyone had to be there at the same time, but other customers kept arriving at different times. So this was not a rule in this place.
On the table the drink menu was bilingual. I was also provided the translation of the skewers.
I just had a cold oolong tea.
I was sitting in front of the cooking station and I could observe the chef-owner cooking, making use of a fan to help the ventilation system and keeping the charcoal at the right temperature, and finishing the skewers with fine sea salt and yakitori sauce.
Chopsticks were presented with a small bowl of pickles and radish (to be used as a side, not replenished).
Appetizer: tomato, zucchini, salad, and cold shredded chicken breast.
Sabiyaki (chicken breast) with wasabi. It was supposed to be almost raw according to the menu, but it was mostly cooked. Flawless juicy tender meat. The wasabi was too spicy for my taste. The chicken was sourced from Kagoshima.
Sunagimo, gizzard. This is the kind of part that I can hardly eat in a normal yakitori place (just too chewy and hard), but here, be it the cooking (quite pink inside) or the quality of the chicken, it was excellent.
A slice of lemon was provided, but I hardly use condiments when the cooking is so perfect.
Palate cleanser: shredded raddish, with some plum jelly on top.
Small onion (Kotamanegi) and chicken tight (Kashiwa). Both delicious, especially the tight was much tender and juicy than usual.
Chigimo: liver, partly raw, with yakitori sauce. Another delicious skewer, the meat would melt in your mouth and had a nice bitter kickback.
Tsukune, chicken meatballs, recommended with lemon. This was a bit bland as compared to what I had in similar rstaurants. But good, with some tidbits of spring onion to boost the favor. Then there was a zucchini skewer that was carefully dipped in yakitori sauce during the cooking
Intermission: a chicken pot, with boiled carrot, artichoke, mushroom, and obviously chicken meat.
Here there was a pause to catch up with the new customers. The time was filled with conversation with my neighbors at the counter.
A matsusake mushroom with lime and soy sauce. The condiments in this case did enhance the flavor.
Kawa: crispy chicken skin. Crispy, but still tender inside. Great.
We were offered an half small tomato as a palate cleanser.
Tebayaki (chicken wing with bones) and shiratama (quail egg) with some salt for the eggs.
The chef taught me how to pull the bones that came out easily (you just need to lift them). The meat, still with its skin, was again so perfectly cooked. Not too hot, and still juicy inside.
Ginnan: ginkgo nuts.
Chicken soup with onion stripes.
Bowls of rice were available as an add-on, but I was fine at this point.
Japanese and Chinese spices were available along soy sauce, but I did not use them.
It took a little over 2 hours.
The check
The cost for the course menu and a drink was 7,535 yen (800 yen as service charge) or 70 USD. It was reasonable.
I found the whole experience pleasant, even if the timing was big dragged, and I would recommend it to other yakitori fans The menu however lacked the adventurous twists of Ueda and Ichimatsu I mentioned earlier.
Where in Tokyo:
1-8-13, Kinshi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 130-0013
In Japanese: 〒130-0013 東京都墨田区錦糸1-8-13 小坂ビル1F.
(3 minutes from Kinshicho Station, take North exit.)