Toritsuki

Hidden Yakitori Omakase Speakeasy in Tokyo, Japan

Given that we were in Tokyo for a few days for a special trip to Sezanne, we decided to tour a few other interesting restaurants while we were in town. Our search for the best yakitori in Tokyo brought us to a happening street in Ebisu, full of indie bars and izakayas. Google maps took us to an unmarked floor at a nondescript building. There was absolutely no signage and there were many confused faces waiting outside, trying to figure out where the restaurant was.

Eventually, once the first seating finished, one of the apprentices came outside, checked our reservations, and led us inside. Getting inside the space, we realized that there the tiny space was separated into two restaurants - Toritsuki, the Yakitori Omakase restaurant, and Torishiki, a small sushi restaurant behind it. All 12 patrons for the seating were arranged around a counter surrounding the chef and we had the privilege of watching the staff meticulously prepare each course.

As we were getting seated, the chef was skillfully picking out charcoal to add to the grill, and breaking apart the large chunk charcoal to get perfect spacing between the grill and the skewers. Run by owner chef Tastuya Nogoka, and manned by two apprentices, there is only one choice of menus - a 21 course omakase featuring free range date chickens grilled millimeters above the white oak charcoal on a slender grill.

Thin charcoal grill, the skewers millimeters from the white oak charcoal.

The first course was a seasonal pumpkin soup, with slices of dehydrated pumpkin for texture and a light chicken mousse meatball hiding just beneath the surface.

While we were finishing the soup, the chef finished off the first skewer - a classic chicken thigh, a fatty cut that was charred crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside, and the smokiness that only comes from fat sizzling on top of white hot charcoal.

The next skewer was chicken gizzard, a normally tough and minerally cut with a bit of springiness and crunch to the meat.

Chicken sashimi salad, with slices of raw chicken breast, placed on a bed of bitter leaves, topped with salt, a bit of yuzu and microgreen sprouts. Well seasoned and balanced, with a bit of acid.

The third skewer was chicken neck, an odd cut I haven’t seen before. Juicy, perfectly seasoned with a little salt and pepper.

Quail eggs grilled perfectly, with a crisp, smoky exterior and perfectly cooked interior.

Chicken gizzard and thigh confit on an crisp slightly bitter endive leaf garnished with a single Japanese Maple leaf.

Chicken tender topped with pungent, freshly grated wasabi. Oddly, this skewer was not grilled to the same degree of char as the others. I’m guessing this was intentional, as this cut had less fat to protect the meat and keep it from drying out.

Deep fried breaded chicken thigh in a chicken sandwich on a sweet Japanese milk bread. The crust was cut off and toasted to a crisp and served like sweet fries on the side.

Perfectly charred broccoli. Never been able to get that level of consistent char myself on a BBQ without burning the broccoli.

Another odd cut, chicken shoulder. Once again, crispy outside, juicy inside and a mouthful of perfect smokiness.

An new one for me - a chicken stomach salad with avocado and nori. Creamy, and a bit of an odd flavour I wasn’t expecting.

Stir fried noodles with diced chicken and a soft boiled quail egg.

One of my favourite skewers - a loosely packed chicken mince with a bit of cartilage mixed in for some crunch. Usually, this is served with a raw egg for dipping, but in this case, it was served alone. Delicious nonetheless.

Toasted gingko nuts - meaty, slightly sweet, nutty.

Another one of my favourites - a skewer of large pieces of chicken cartilage, the texture is always a bit hard, crisp and springy but it’s one of my absolute favourite cuts, along with the chicken skin and chicken mince.

Simmered taro and shishito pepper in a clear bonito broth. Deceptively simple, but flavourful.

One of the largest pieces of the night, a perfectly grilled chicken wing.

Diced chicken thigh in rice, cooked over fire in a clay pot, served in two ways.

Firstly, on its own, enjoying some of the crispy rice bits that were browned against the hot clay pot.

Secondly, mixed into a porridge with a rich chicken broth.

To finish the meal a hot barley tea, with a thick matcha pudding topped with cream mousse.

An great yakitori omakase experience and well worth the effort to took to find the restaurant. The chef was patient with us, explaining what every cut was, and providing a little booklet that explained a bit more about the techniques, the sourcing of the chicken and the history of the restaurant.

When the bill came, we thought that there was a mistake - it ended up costing around half of what we expected! An amazing meal with friends, and well worth a repeat journey.

Total damage: 15k JPY/head