Kyoto đ Tokyo
Lori:
A master at work. That was what we watched inside a Shinjuku yakitori restaurant with seating for 14 and a kitchen where the chef; a slim, tall man, floated sidewards back and forth between his cooking area and the seating area.
Yakitori Kurochan came highly recommended by Kayo, the property manager of our Shinjuku airbnb (thatâs not an airbnbâŚthatâs another story). We entered a tiny room filled with the unmistakable smell of yakitori which immediately triggered salivation. (We filled the two of the tables and shortly after we arrived another party of 5 and a single arrived filling the restaurant.) Menu options were handwritten on pieces of paper in Japanese and plastered to the walls. Table menus were phoneticized in English meaning we still couldnât decipher the meaning of some items.
The chef took our drink order and initial food order and even spoke some English. It was Sapporo, for the Mäneka and Balaram, sake for Kamala, ginger ale for Linda, and water for me. Then Lindaâs Wilkinson ginger ale arrived. It was awesome! Sort of dry, not too sweet. Immediately, I realized that Wilkinson ginger ale could be the beginning of a new relationship for me. HmmâŚ.maybe I could even try a âhighballâ with the stuff and later I had my first ever and polished off the entire drink!
It was great fun watching the chef cook in his one-butt sized kitchen. He single-handedly took orders, served drinks and food, and most important, prepared each and every skewer and dish that appeared. Sticking to chicken, we had skewered thighs and breasts, chicken balls (according to BPâŚthey were good!), chicken hearts and livers (L, M, and K said they were tender), and chicken skins. They were all dipped in the chefâs special tare sauce and were cooked to perfection on his charcoal grill. We watched as he fanned the fire allowing smoke to billow over the grilled chicken and carefully turned each skewer to prevent them from burning. We feasted on grilled shiitake, eggplant, and shishito. In addition we had an order of sliced tomatoes with a side of mayo and salt. Then, just when we thought our stomachs would burst, the Chef brought out a plate of komatsuna (greens), shark cartilage with plum sauce, and age-dashi tofu, on the house. Oh my godâŚmake it stop.
It did and we all went back to the airbnb happy, full, and a bit larger in the midsection.
Mäneka:
The department store food halls here are amazing, and doubly so as Halloween approaches. Check out the display of Halloween bread below and the adorable ghost daifuku. We have also spotted pumpkin-shaped entremets and witch hat cakes.
While wandering the surroundings of our Shinjuku airbnb, we happened upon this mysterious locale. Manboo!
