The lunch special is tendon or kakiagedon at ¥1,300. Dinner courses from ¥7,000. [M-6]
UKIYO
2-1-1 Azabu-juban, Minato-ku. Tel: 3455-2254. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M., 5:00-10:00 P.M., closed Tue. A simple neighborhood restaurant, the tempura is great and the staff very friendly. Lunch from ¥1,100, dinner course from ¥4,000. [M-1]
Yakitori
A favorite hangout for the Japanese salariman on his way home from work, most yakitori restaurants are technically not restaurants, but nomiya. The art refined is served in more sophisticated restaurants for those who find the under-the-tracks yakitori spots not quite to their taste. Yakitori at its best is skewered bits of chicken, charcoal broiled to the perfect crispy on the outside, succulent on the inside stage.
| Menu | |
| sei-niku | chicken dark meat |
| sasami | chicken breast meat |
| negima | chicken and leeks (other combinations of chicken and vegetables are also served, depending on the restaurant) |
| reba | chicken liver |
| tsukune | meatballs |
| kawa | skin |
| tebasaki | wings |
| piman | green peppers |
| shiitake | large mushrooms |
| negi | leek |
| ginnan | ginkgo nuts |
| uzura | quail eggs |
| Side Dishes: | |
| oroshi | grated white radish with a raw quail's egg on top to be used mixed with soy sauce or as a dip for yakitori |
| nikomi | stew of pork, tripe, etc. |
| kamameshi | steamed seasoned rice with vegetables and a choice of chicken, crab, salmon, etc. |
How to Order
• Order a side dish to eat while you're waiting for the grilled items.
• The grilled food is usually served meat first and vegetables last. You can usually see what's available since seats tend to be at a counter surrounding the grill.
• Some of the dishes are good with fare (a slightly sweet sauce), others are best with just lemon and salt. There will be a small jar of shichimi, a hot combination of seven spices that can be sprinkled at will.
• You can bite the food right off the skewers or slip it off with your chopsticks.
TORICIN
4-12-6 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3403-5829. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M., 5:00-10:30 P.M., closed Sun. One of the best known yakitori restaurants in town, this is just one of a chain of many Torigins spread throughout the city. The restaurants are all comfortably casual, and the food is basic but good. Courses from ¥940. [M-1]
Other branches are at Shibuya: Kakugin Bldg., B1, 1-13-9 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 3486-9831. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-10:00 P.M. daily. (11:30 A.M.-9:00 P.M. Sun. & hol.) [M-3]
Ginza: 5-5-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel 3571-3333. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-9:30 P.M. daily. (11:30 A.M.-9:00 P.M., Sun. & hol.) [M-8]
TORICHO
7-14-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3401-1827. Hours: 5:00-11:00 P.M. daily. This rather classy yakitori restaurant even made it into the Town & Country list of recommended Tokyo restaurants a few years back. It is very good, the setting very relaxed. Omakase course ¥4,000. [M-1]
NANBANTEI
4-5-6 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3402-0606. Hours: 5:30-11:30 P.M. daily. (MII Shibuya branch: Tokyu Bunka Kaikan 2nd Fl., 2-21-12 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 3498-0940. Hours: 11:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M., 5:00-10:45 P.M. daily. [M3]. Try their nanban-yaki—beef dipped in hot miso and grilled. The asupara-maki is green asparagus wrapped in thinly sliced pork. Dinner course from ¥3,500.
ISEHIRO
1-5-4 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku. Tel: 3281-5864. Hours: 11:30-2:00 P.M., 4:30-9:00 P.M., closed Sun. & hol. In this nearly sixty-year-old restaurant, you can eat an entire hen, bit-by-bit, for ¥4,500. If you can't make it through the whole bird, just say you've had enough, and you'll only pay for what you've eaten. Lunch costs around ¥1,500. [M-9]
GANCHAN
Okaue Bldg., 1F, 6-8-23 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3478-0092. Hours: 6:00 P.M.-2:O0 A.M. daily, until midnight on Sun. & hol. This place can best be described as pure Japanese funk. The interior is classic yakitori-ya style, the music is either enka or California surfer tunes. The crew is amicable and casual. Food is great. Course meal ¥2,500. [M-1]
Robata-yaki
Probably the noisiest restaurants in the world, robata-yaki restaurants are known for the lively shouting of the staff welcoming the guests and calling in orders. Though some first-time foreigners mistake the shouts for anger, it's all in good fun. Robata-yaki is country-style cooking, a variety of simple and hearty dishes of mostly seafood and vegetables prepared over a robata grill. The atmosphere is usually postcard perfect with Japanese decor and a restaurant crew in provincial costume. The food is great, very simple, and filling.
Menu—Just about anything can be ordered in a robata-yaki restaurant, but the specialty is the food grilled on the open robata in front of the counter.
| Shio-yaki: | a whole fish grilled with a bi |
| nishin | herring |
| karei | flounder/turbot |
| sanma | pike |
| aji | horse mackerel |
| ika | squid |
| shishamo | smelt |
| ebi | shrimp |
| Vegetables: | |
| nasu | eggplant |
| piman | green peppers |
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