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Image 1: 03-3622-6202 1-8-13 Kinshi, Sumida-ku
This is a crowded place with 12 counter-seats where locals come here for drinks and good quality chicken.
Image 2: Yakitori is all about chicken - breast, thigh, wings, tail, skin, soft bone, gizzard, liver... you name it! Put it through a skewer and grill over charcoal to perfection. Well, the chef's perfection means MEDIUM RARE. Yes, medium rare for chicken!!!
Image 3: We were here for a very early dinner as they didn't accept booking after 6:30pm. Once we entered, I immediately salivated from the seductive smokiness and the sound of the sizzling meal. It was an interesting experience to see how the chef was grilling the skewers with the help of his fan. CLICK HERE TO SEE!!!
Image 4: For just USD$45, we got a range of skewers, pickles, a bowl of salad, and a soup. Luckily, we came here with a local friend who acted as our translator throughout the meal. We told the chef that we prefer our chicken to be fully cooked!
Image 5: After about 10min, our skewers finally came - onions on the left and chicken breast on the right. These baby onions were lovely, but the chicken breast skewer was impeccable! I've never tasted chicken with such a fresh clean taste before. Exceptional!
Image 6: Whoa! We realized that it was quite pink inside after our first bite but the chef said he already overcooked them just for us! Oh well!
Image 7: Daikon topped with quail egg. You simply mix them together resulting in a slippery mushy mashed daikon. Weird! We liked neither the taste nor the texture!
Image 8: A big bowl of salad to share among us.
Image 9: Mini eggplants and unique chicken balls made by blending soft bones and chicken meat offering a nice crunchy texture. Cool!
Image 10: On the left, boiled then grilled quail eggs which were rather dry, but the gizzard on the right was surprisingly good. The elastic and strong resistant texture was just fun to eat!
Image 11: I guess we were spoiled by the high quality bamboo shoot from all those 3-star restaurants. This one wasn't that great in comparison.
Image 12: I thought eating chicken skin alone would be disgustingly greasy but I guess the grill had burned out most of the fat and the few drops of lemon juice further cut out the fat! Not bad.
Image 13: Seared breast with wasabi.
Image 14: It was very raw inside and the chef explained not only were the chicken specially reared, they were carefully slaughtered to ensure no contact between the flesh and the organs which contain harmful bacteria. Also, the meat was kept at proper temperature and hence it was safe to eat if it was completely raw!
Image 15: Look at this raw piece of meat. I tried a small bite but the fact that it was raw chicken affected my enjoyment of the meat. Definitely we didn't want a hospital visit during our trip and fortunately we were all fine!
Image 16: Something not chicken -- grilled quail.
Image 17: No part was wasted here. This was soft bone. Yes, just bone but it worked. It was all about the texture!
Image 18: The chef strongly recommended us to try this - barely seared chicken liver!
Image 19: I tried a bit of this literally bloody liver and gave the rest to my local friend who had no issue eating raw chicken at all. Actually, the smokiness was quite strong that you won't sense too much of the rawness!
Image 20: Chicken wings, finally something normal. Again, the fragrance from the grill was sensational.
Image 21: With a crispy skin.
Image 22: The bone came loose with just a gentle touch!
Image 23: Still very pink inside, but at this point, if I could eat that bloody liver, why would I care about the meat being too raw?!
Image 24: Last item, Shitaki mushroom.
Image 25: Simple soup to finish the meal and we were SO GLAD that the chef didn't serve us chicken tail which he did encourage us to try! Overall, it was a fun and memorable, adventurous, and tasty experience!
Image 26: Since it was an early dinner and as usual, I wasn't full at all, our friend brought us to Harajuku for the famous Kyusyu-Jangara (九州じゃんがら) ramen. (Address: 1-13-21 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001)
Image 27: Still a 15min queue at 10pm on a weekday.
Image 28: Oh my god, I finally realised how crappy was the instant ramen noodle at home which I have been eating all these years. This was the real thing - soft tender pork, semi-fatty belly, perfectly cooked egg, and the remarkably flavoursome soup broth!
Image 29: Don't get distracted from all those goodies. The noodle itself was actually the highlight. What a treat to finish our night!