Dinner Date In A Local Yakitori Restaurant

It's not often to see couples date in a yakitori restaurant. Usually it's a place where groups (coworkers, friends, families) dine. It's an informal setting so if you're planning to take your date to a fancy dinner, a yakitori restaurant might not be a good idea.

But my partner and I are different. We're not the fancy couple. I like the informal setting, diving deep into the Japanese culture and experience what most locals experience. I think informal settings like this will make us open up to each other more. 😁

So it's natural for us to have our date nights in a yakitori restaurant. We don't often go, because we often go to our favorite sushi place, but once in a while, when we miss the skewers, we go.

Yakitori (Japanese: 焼き鳥) (literally 'grilled bird') is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves skewering the meat with kushi (串), a type of skewer typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials. Afterwards, they are grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, the meat is typically seasoned with tare sauce or salt.[1] The term is sometimes used informally for kushiyaki (grilled and skewered foods) in general.

_{Source: Wikipedia}

We found a yakitori restaurant just near home. It's not so extravagant, and I think only few people know about it. Personally, I was doubtful to go. I don't think they have a lot of customers though you can't really see the inside when viewed from outside. My partner was also doubtful but we decided to give it a try.

Aside from the homey feels of the restaurant, I love their food! The taste is so heavenly. I was actually surprised to find a very good local yakitori place near home.

We ordered a lot at first as you can see. 😅 The yakitori can be cooked by either salt (しお, shio) or soy sauce (たれ, tare). By default, cooking style is salt. I have no problems eating it with both salt and soy sauce but I would say soy sauce is the way to go. We tend to mix both so we won't get fed up.

Negima (ねぎま) is called such because in between the green onion, chicken can be found. I think it's chicken thighs.

This is one of my favorites in the store: wrapped quail egg, locally known as Uzura-maki (うずら巻). Honestly, we ordered it 2 times because I really like it.

Aspara-maki (アスパラ巻) is also one of my favorites. You can guess by looking at the photo. It's wrapped asparagus.

These are few of the orders we made. I like chicken skin (hello unhealthy eating habits!) and asparagus. Honestly I didn't like asparagus before but I came to like it while I'm here in Japan.

Yakitori being grilled chicken skewers is not only limited to chicken. There's also beef and pork. Butabara (豚バラ) is a favorite among customers (me included!) but this time, I'm not into it. It's good but there's too much oil which turns me off.

The etiquette when entering the yakitori restaurant or even most restaurants in Japan is to order the drinks first. The food can be ordered after. And most people order beer. You can drink your favorite cocktail drinks when the beer is finished.

I recently found out about cassis oolong. This will become one of my favorite drinks from now on. It's not too sweet and not too bitter. Just perfect for my tastebuds. You should give it a try!

Edamame (枝豆) is like a side dish that you'll get it for free. Okay, not really free, it's included in the service charge. 😅 Most restaurants serve peanuts but in Japan, it's common to see edamame. I like it too. I think I finished this one bowl for myself. 😂

Edamame /ˌɛdəˈmɑːmeɪ/ is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, found in cuisines with origins in East Asia. The pods are boiled or steamed and may be served with salt or other condiments. In Japan, they are usually blanched in 4% salt water and not served with salt. When the beans are outside the pod, the term mukimame is also sometimes used in Japanese.[1]

_{Source: Wikipedia}

They also have other food like this natto rice bowl and eggplant. My boyfriend ate this all. I don't really eat natto because of the sticky texture but this was actually good. Eggplant, yes, it's also good. Take it from me who just came to eat vegetables while I'm here in Japan. It's that good.

If you're wondering about the menu, here it is. It's all in Japanese, as expected. This restaurant is not really tourist-friendly but I could understand because of its location. It's found in the neighborhood, you won't really expect foreigners to come here. I can read most of it and my boyfriend was with me so I didn't have any problems reading the menu. 😅

Messy table means we enjoyed our food. Food is not so expensive yet it's so delicious. We might come back if we feel like eating yakitori. No need to go far because it's just in the neighborhood. Ah, feels like I'm one of the locals..

Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！

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^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}