Tim S.
Yelp
tl;dr yakitori lovers rejoice!
In my yakitori era, I often fantasize about getting a beer and eating skewers at a no frills place. This place didn't have the cozy bar vibe that fully fit the bill, but it was quiet and trendy topped with a fun playlist.
We were able to walk-in on a Monday night with the restaurant only being around 1/4 full. You're handed a menu full of delicious sounding items, and a sheet to fill out for yakitori. Some items are limited, so get here early! There's also a sheet that shows $1 specials per night. Ours was $1 for a couple pieces of their pan-fried gyoza that was really good.
First we ordered takowasa, which quickly came in a huge portion with extra wasabi on the side and nori sheets to eat it with. I've never had it that way, but this was one of the best versions of takowasa I've had in NYC.
We then put in a giant order of skewers and fried skewers (~16 total) that were various pieces of chicken to enoki-wrapped pork belly to deep-fried mochi. One really cool element was you could choose whether you simply wanted salt on it or the traditional tare sauce for each stick. Everything was delicious, but some worth calling out as a must-get:
* Chicken skin (with salt) -- limited quantity but so so good. The night we went we got one order at around 6:30p, but one hour later at 7:30p they were out when we wanted another taste of the crispy savory goodness.
* Chicken thigh with yuzu (tare sauce) -- new combo of flavor I've never had. Mind-blowing.
* Zucchini (tare sauce) -- grilled zucchini has such a good texture and flavor. Also makes the all-meat meal feel a bit healthier, but that's quickly destroyed by the slightly sweet sauce that works so well with it.
* Deep-fried lotus root -- something about the breading with this tasted just right.
The service forgot about the deep-fried items we ordered, and they were too polite to kick us out (kept refilling our water) and we were too polite to ask them about it. After the polite standoff for about 45 mins, they quickly acknowledged it was on the way but didn't offer an apology. However, they fried up an additional 3 items beyond what we ordered to make up for it.
Note they do not serve dessert here, so make plans elsewhere if you require that. For us, we were far too stuffed to even think about it.
They also seem to be open late (1am weeknights, 2am weekends), and would be my #1 late night spot. Definitely has taken the spot as my go-to affordable yakitori place in NYC. Will 100% be returning and getting my second order of chicken skin early!