Late one night I followed my nose into a local izakaya restaurant “Japanese Pub” that specializes in yakitori which is skewered chicken. The restaurant did not have any English markings for the name, but I have learned that the name in English is Toribancho Honten. The smell that radiates from the restaurant is the overpowering smell of grilled delights and from the street they will hook you instantly drawing you into the establishment without fail.
Yakitori is the specialty of the house by which you are served pieces of raw chicken heart, neck, liver, breast and leg along with a nice table-top grill. Looks like fun!
Since I was solo and did not have a friend to sit and grill with over a beer one of the waitresses named Ono came by and gave me a lesson on grilling. She explained that the center was the hottest and also told me which parts to use the lemon on. She made it look easy and it was very cool to have a mini table-top grill at your fingertips. My favorite was the liver which was simply awesome and had a very nice and complex flavor to it with the lemon.
Here is a pic of the two coolest people at Toribancho Honten which is a place I will always remember as the spot I had my first table-top yakitori. Thanks for the great experience!
