are best with just lemon and salt. There will be a small jar of shichimi, a hot combination of seven spices that can be sprinkled at will.
• You can bite the food right off the skewers or slip it off with your chopsticks.
TORICIN
4-12-6 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3403-5829. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-2:00 P.M., 5:00-10:30 P.M., closed Sun. One of the best known yakitori restaurants in town, this is just one of a chain of many Torigins spread throughout the city. The restaurants are all comfortably casual, and the food is basic but good. Courses from ¥940. [M-1]
Other branches are at Shibuya: Kakugin Bldg., B1, 1-13-9 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 3486-9831. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-10:00 P.M. daily. (11:30 A.M.-9:00 P.M. Sun. & hol.) [M-3]
Ginza: 5-5-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku. Tel 3571-3333. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-9:30 P.M. daily. (11:30 A.M.-9:00 P.M., Sun. & hol.) [M-8]
TORICHO
7-14-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3401-1827. Hours: 5:00-11:00 P.M. daily. This rather classy yakitori restaurant even made it into the Town & Country list of recommended Tokyo restaurants a few years back. It is very good, the setting very relaxed. Omakase course ¥4,000. [M-1]
NANBANTEI
4-5-6 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3402-0606. Hours: 5:30-11:30 P.M. daily. (MII Shibuya branch: Tokyu Bunka Kaikan 2nd Fl., 2-21-12 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 3498-0940. Hours: 11:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M., 5:00-10:45 P.M. daily. [M3]. Try their nanban-yaki—beef dipped in hot miso and grilled. The asupara-maki is green asparagus wrapped in thinly sliced pork. Dinner course from ¥3,500.
ISEHIRO
1-5-4 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku. Tel: 3281-5864. Hours: 11:30-2:00 P.M., 4:30-9:00 P.M., closed Sun. & hol. In this nearly sixty-year-old restaurant, you can eat an entire hen, bit-by-bit, for ¥4,500. If you can't make it through the whole bird, just say you've had enough, and you'll only pay for what you've eaten. Lunch costs around ¥1,500. [M-9]
GANCHAN
Okaue Bldg., 1F, 6-8-23 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3478-0092. Hours: 6:00 P.M.-2:O0 A.M. daily, until midnight on Sun. & hol. This place can best be described as pure Japanese funk. The interior is classic yakitori-ya style, the music is either enka or California surfer tunes. The crew is amicable and casual. Food is great. Course meal ¥2,500. [M-1]
Robata-yaki
Probably the noisiest restaurants in the world, robata-yaki restaurants are known for the lively shouting of the staff welcoming the guests and calling in orders. Though some first-time foreigners mistake the shouts for anger, it's all in good fun. Robata-yaki is country-style cooking, a variety of simple and hearty dishes of mostly seafood and vegetables prepared over a robata grill. The atmosphere is usually postcard perfect with Japanese decor and a restaurant crew in provincial costume. The food is great, very simple, and filling.
Menu—Just about anything can be ordered in a robata-yaki restaurant, but the specialty is the food grilled on the open robata in front of the counter.
| Shio-yaki: | a whole fish grilled with a bi |
| nishin | herring |
| karei | flounder/turbot |
| sanma | pike |
| aji | horse mackerel |
| ika | squid |
| shishamo | smelt |
| ebi | shrimp |
| Vegetables: | |
| nasu | eggplant |
| piman | green peppers |
| negi | leek |
| shiitake | mushrooms |
| ginnan | ginkgo nuts |
| atsu-age | deep-fried tofu |
| satsuma-age | deep-fried ground fish |
| Side dishes: | |
| nikujaga | a stew of meat and potatoes |
| jagabata | grilled potatoes with butter |
How to Order
• Because grilled foods take time to cook, order sashimi first, or a couple of side dishes along with the grilled fish. The fish will be displayed in front of you so you can just point. Finish the meal with onigiri and oshinko (pickles).
• There will usually be some special seasonal fish. To order, just ask Kyo wa nani ga oishii desu ka? or "What's good today?"
• Eat the grilled fish and vegetables with a bit of soy sauce. Onigiri are eaten plain.
INAKAYA
Roppongi: 7-8-4 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3405-9866. Hours: 5:00 P.M.-5:00 A.M. daily. [M-1] Akasaka: 3-12-7 Akasaka, Minato-ku. Tel: 3586-3054. Hours: 5:00-11:00 P.M. daily. [M-6] One of the most picturesque robata-yaki restaurants in town, the cooks sit on a platform right in front of the counter. Dinner will cost about ¥10,000 per person.
OKAIOKI
3-59-3 Nakano, Nakano-ku. Tel: 3228-1239. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-1:00 P.M., 5:00-11:00 P.M., (4:00-10:00 P.M., Sun. & hol.). A huge hearth and kitchen, surrounded by an equally huge counter, they serve food in appropriately huge portions. A single onigiri is enough for two. Cost is about ¥3,000-¥4,000 per person. [M-26]
GONIN BYAKUSHO
Roppongi Square Building, 4F, 3-10 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 3470-1675. Hours: 11:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M., 5:00-10:30 P.M., closed Sun. & hol. At the entrance you'll find lockers. Just like in the public baths, put your shoes in and lock them up. The restaurant is run by a famous sushi company called Kyotaru, and they have the usual robata-yaki menu plus specialty items like cbakin-shumai—steamed minced meat wrapped in a thin egg casing. Courses start at ¥4,000. The name means "the five farmers," and the atmosphere is suitably rural. [M-1]
TORA
3-49-1 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 3440-0917. Hours: 6:00 P.M.-midnight, closed Sun. & hol. A rather fashionable, newer restaurant, with simple but good food. [M-2]
OKAJU
1-26-3 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku. Tel: 3717-0781. Hours: 5:00-11:30 P.M. daily. This shop has some interesting additions to the usual robata-yaki menu: manju, minced chicken wrapped with mashed potato and served in a soup; kintoki-guratan, a sweet potato gratin, etc. About ¥5,000 per person. [M-21]
Kushi-age
Originally