Sumiyaki Torikou

An Amazing Yakitori Experience！! Tucked away in a quiet alley, this yakitori spot is an absolute find! It’s only about a 10-minute walk from Nijo Castle Kyoto. When we arrived, a sign out front said they were fully booked for the night, but the staff noticed us looking in and kindly invited us inside anyway—what a warm welcome! Every single dish we tried was incredibly delicious. The charcoal-grilled chicken had such a rich, smoky flavor and a wonderfully tender texture—each bite felt like pure happiness. And the staff, Super friendly and full of positive energy! I highly recommend this place. Don’t miss it if you’re in the area!

Top shelf yakitori. Everything I had was delicious. The grilled eggplant was one of their recommendations and it was a winner.

A wonderful yakitori experience! I was happening to walk by and was drawn in by the delicious aroma and cozy looking atmosphere. I stepped inside and was helped to schedule a reservation for my family and I for a few nights in advance. The next day I realized I had accidentally double booked us on that night! The restaurant was closed the next two days, so it wasn’t until the day of our reservation that I could go back to Sumiyaki Torikou and admit my mistake. The team was kind enough to allow me to reschedule to the following day, and I was so glad that they did! Everything that we tried was absolutely mouthwatering! My favorites were the tsukune, chicken skin, negima (my first time trying negima with skin on thigh, was amazing), and all of the veggies. The staff was attentive and kind and made us feel very welcome. We were the last party in the restaurant for the evening and got to close out with a drink with the staff. Eat at Sumiyaki Torikou, you will love it!

A delicious yakitori! All our choices were enjoyed by our group of 4. Good selection of beers & a very tasty plum wine were had as well. An easy walk from Karasuma Oike station. Service was friendly and helpful. Great value. Recommend! 👌🏻

the food was so delicious, eventhough we did not make a reservation we only had to wait half an hour (went to a bar around the corner). it was truely delicious and very nice presentation as well. They thought about each dish and garnish them really well. Highly recommend, the veggies are as good as the meat dishes, my favorite was the chicken with plum sauce, the aubergines and peppers.

Fantastic local Yakitori restaurant serving up quality skewers at a very fair price for the quality. I can understand why they are always busy. They were friendly and accommodating to foreigners and Japanese alike, so some of these foreigner reviews complaining about unfair service don’t understand the system. Leave your western entitlement at the door and you will have a great time and experience fantastic hospitality. There are other places that don’t welcome foreigners and this ain’t one of them. My favorites were the bonjiri, negima, eggplant and tomato.

We had a great experience the food was spot on everything was great and we really enjoyed every bit of it Try the hearts, the livers, the quail eggs amazing, squid, the chicken with plum sauce and wassabi not to miss u ll regret not trying them!! I edited because I didn't talk about the service! They are really nice and cooperative, very fast and very professional well done!

We came for dinner and we enjoyed the yakitori - we tried the tsukune, neriba, pork belly with kimchi, eggplant and the shishito peppers. The staff were polite and helpful.