Yanagi Koji Taka: An intimate, unfussy standing bar with a tapas vibe
After cooking in Italy, Australia and Denmark for over a decade, kaiseki chef Taka Nishimura returned to Kyoto to open Yanagi Koji Taka, a small, local joint with a menu of perfectly executed bar food.
In Seoul, authentic Japanese food inspires everyday happiness
The rise in South Korean solo dining culture and a desire to seek out authentic experiences is driving up the popularity of Japanese food.
Yakitori Souten: The artful power of organic collaboration
At Yakitori Souten, chef Teruaki Nakamata has been sourcing high-quality organic ingredients, especially domestic jidori chickens, and collaborating closely with farms and distillers for 15 years.
Torioka: High-quality yakitori that's accessible ... for now
When it comes to premium yakitori, nowhere does it better than grillmaster supreme Yoshiteru Ikegawa's brilliant Torishiki. No place is harder to reserve, either. Which is why it was such good news when Torioka, his new offshoot, opened last autumn. Not only is the location ...
Toridoki: Old-school yakitori near new Toyosu market
There are plenty of reasons to mourn the closure of Tsukiji's legendary wholesale market, and many more to bemoan its successor in Toyosu. Not least is the dearth of good, established restaurants out on that sterile landfill location. So it is comforting at least to ...
Toritama: Beak-to-tail yakitori washed down with top sake
There are only two fail-safe ways to get through a Tokyo heatwave summer. One is to head for the hills, or anywhere else the nights are cool. The other is to self-medicate. Sake does the trick perfectly, especially when matched with good yakitori. That ...
Ribatei: No pretension here, just satisfying yakitori
Ribatei might be located in a grittier part of Yokohama, but the yakitori third-generation owner-chef Tomotsugu Sakakibara serves is nothing to scoff at.
Torisee Takoyakushi: Kyoto yakitori shop a brazen ode to the bird
A few years ago I was warned off torisashi (chicken sashimi) by a friend who, after eating it on a night out in Osaka, spent the following week in a very bad way. So when a dish containing thin slices of raw chicken breast ...
Men Labo Hiro: Balanced ramen from a yakitori chef
Men Labo Hiro is far from your standard noodle counter. Squeaky clean both inside and out, with spacious tables by the door and enough room to squeeze in even a stroller or two, it feels more like a family restaurant than the type of ...
Sumiba Yakitori Enza: U.S. cinema meets grilled chicken
It's not quite cinema-dark inside Enza, but it's not far off. Indeed, the cinema connection is apposite: In many ways Enza is as much about yakitori as it is about icons of American cinema. Framed movie posters line the walls, but the best room in ...
Torikado: Elevating yakitori to an art form
Tokyo has no shortage of yakitori restaurants. They range from funky, smoky hole-in-the-wall grills to elegant emporia serving prime skewers of the finest fowl. But there's nowhere quite like Torikado. At the bottom of an anonymous flight of stairs, you push through a heavy wooden ...
Yakitori Imai: A new grill pairs tradition with ambience
What better way to mark the start of this new lunar year than with yakitori? It's the Year of the Fire Rooster, so that calls for some good skewers — prime jidori chicken, of course, carefully prepared over proper charcoal. At Yakitori Imai that's ...
