When it comes to food trends in this city, it never rains but it pours. The latest thing seems to be yakitori – a Hokusai wave of new openings. Who doesn’t love things on sticks?
With yakitori, barbecuing each skewer to the perfect doneness is the baseline. Each chef has their own preferences when it comes to charcoal, smoke and precise grilling techniques, but mastery over every element is requisite (so is a dark-coloured uniform and a face full of sweat).
For the diner, it’s dinner and a show: You get to watch your sticks being cooked to perfection.
Yakitori is one of the best ways to appreciate the alchemy of what a flame can do and how various cuts of meat from the humble chicken can taste so different. And, if you enjoy innards, you will have extra fun.
While any self-respecting yakitori restaurant’s main menu will look quite similar to the next one’s as the focus is on the art of bringing the best and juiciest flavour out of each of the bird’s yummy parts, peripheral dishes can also be instrumental in creating memorable moments in diners’ recollections. And, you always have to end off with a delicious carb.
Here are some new places to check out when your next barbecued bird craving hits.
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