Yakitori Imai

Fresh, juicy, and generous chicken aside, the tomato, spaghetti squash, and the ginkgo nuts were outstanding, and I wish I could come for a vegetable only set course one day. The innards were impressive but it was the more conventional cuts of meat that showed off their mastery of the craft. I personally prefer more char and smokiness but was happy with my experience. I did find the sake caramel dessert a bit too bitter. Worth noting is the extensive list of natural wines available on top of beer and sake. And the service was seamless at every point.

The atmosphere is pleasant, tidy, and contemporary, with a solid selection of wines and sakes. However, the yakitori is fairly ordinary, and sadly, given the price, it doesn’t offer great value for money.

My second time and will definitely come again. The chicken shiso skewer is incredible. The staff is very attentive and service is impeccable. The sake selection is very nice as well.

Intimate yakitori place with warm and welcoming service that hugs you as soon as you step in the door. They are attentive without being obsequious and I particularly enjoyed watching the jovial interaction between the chefs, the customer facing staff (although you might say they are all customer facing in such an intimate joint with diners seated at an elongated horseshoe shaped counter watching) and some customers who I assume are regulars. We had the ¥8,800 omakase with interspersed pieces of chicken and vegetables grilled to perfection. You have to excuse my pictures which give the false impression of the amount of food as I keep forgetting to take a pic until halfway through a skewer. They explain every skewer as it's brought to you at a leisurely pace that I find particularly conducive to carrying on a conversation. If I lived in Tokyo, I could easily imagine this as one of my favourite places to catch up with mates over a few skewers and a drink or two. And speaking of drinks, in addition to sakes, they also have a small but well curated reasonably priced list of wines that you can have by the glass! Why wouldn't more restaurants do this? All I can say is shame we don't live in Tokyo.

Guests should make reservation. We stumbled upon this gem after a long hard day. We were thrilled our child met mandatory age limit of 12. The menu however is better suited for adult. It was an absolute education in Yakitori presentation for us with clearly the finest attention and ingredients. A tremendous amount of food (and variety) is offered in the meal. Service was impeccable. Transportation easily attained by train.

Delicious meal for our first evening in Tokyo. Small, stylish restaurant, with outstanding service. We had a set menu with around 15 plates. They have good knowledge about sake, so worth trying this there.

Decent yakitori with other poultry offerings like duck and quail. Offals were especially good, though some skewers were under seasoned for me. The matsukaze chicken they mainly use has a delicious more chewy texture. Very comfortable and elegant cozy space with excellent ventilation, well priced wines, good service. Must try: hatsu / heart, reba/ liver, liver mix (intestines etc), kabu, super fresh and delicate shirako Rating 3.5

Charged Customer No-Show Fee Due To Their Own Mistake! I dined at this Japanese yakitori restaurant a few years ago with friends. As I recall, the food was grilled into perfection with the right amount of seasoning. However, I will NEVER return or recommend to people I know because of an extremely unpleasant experience I have encountered. With the help of American Express (AE), I had made a dinner reservation for 4. On that day, my friends and I arrived early, we were the first group of customers that night; and if I remember correctly, we were the only non-local customers who didn’t speak Japanese. As mentioned earlier, dinner was great and we enjoyed the food. Anyhow, a few days after I returned home, American Express (AE) called me. They told me YAKITORI IMAI said I didn’t show up for dinner therefore they requested to charge for no-show penalty fee. That was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever hear as we clearly did dined at the restaurant and told the host we had a reservation and stated my name. Unfortunately, my friend paid in cash that night and throw away the receipt. The only proof I can share with AE was an instagram I posted which captured the food, the counter and one of the chef. As you might have expected, they didn’t believe us. I mean it wasn’t a big restaurant, we were the only foreigners, and we told them where we sat. I don’t believe they couldn’t go back to the billing record or even CCTV. Anyway, AE was very nice to absorbed the no-show fee but it was the restaurant FAULT!! Till this day, I am still extremely disappointed & angry with the entire ordeal. I still feel wrongfully accused & blamed!!! To those who travel to Japan often, you know a lot of restaurants don’t take foreigner reservation requests claiming there are too many no-shows. But this incident clearly shown things can go other way too.

Grillmaster Takashi Imai's namesake yakitoriya is sleek, pristine and contemporary. All the seats look in on his open kitchen which is a pleasure to watch everyone working si hard to get the yakitori to perfection! The excellent chicken skewers are delightful, which my favorite being the liver, which is full of flavors and rich! I also enjoyed the thigh with skin and the chicken "skirt steak". There's also a good selection of grilled vegetables from his second grill, and the quail eggs skewer is a true standout, plus a substantial list of wine and sake at decent price. Reservation is a must as it got packed around 7pm. A truly enjoyable experience with great yakitori, attentive service and authentic experience (we were the only no. Japanese speaking guest that night).

As always, we are poor planners, so prior to flying out to Tokyo we googled a bunch of places recommended and found this place to have great feedback as well as openings on the nights. We were going to attend. I made reservations with their website as best as I could while using Google translate. We got a email confirmation and had to provide a credit card to hold our spot. You can specify if you have any food restrictions on your reservation. We arrived early in the neighborhood and were able to walk around and enjoy the area. When we arrived to the restaurant we were greeted by the entire staff. The layout itself is counter seating with the kitchen in the center. It's always a treat to me to be able to watch chefs doing what they love and watching their art. The menu is prefixed but they do try to accommodate your food restrictions, if any. You're also required to order one beverage per person, whether it be alcoholic or not. Following the prefix menu, you can also order more a la carte. Every single skewer was cooked to perfection. Sometimes we weren't even sure what we were eating but it was all delicious. The standouts were definitely the innards combo stick. Again, not quite sure what we were eating but it was absolutely amazing. Another standout skewer was the Chicken liver as well as the quail eggs. Also. The duck was a nice surprise. The chefs and staff speak only Japanese, but they're adept to using Google translate If needed. The level of detail and care they take in each skewer was evident. I would not be surprised if this restaurant was a Michelin star recipient in the near future. It's a must try if you're in the area, you won't regret it.

Food 3, service 5, ambiance 5. If you've never had real Japanese yakitori , its not what you have imagined. Its VERY subtle in flavor and frankly bland for an American palate. Its not saucy or flashy or flavorful. Its good chicken meat in every style grilled over charcoal. Thats it. Even the teriyaki one was subtle. It's pricey as far as Japanese food. For 2 people with 3 glasses of wine (3.5 oz pours), no desserts was 140$. Its ok but I would not come back... its not the price, its the food. Americans need big flavor. Think of skewers without seasoning, marinade or sauce. Thats yakitori. One MUST try it put and see.

Yakitori is often thought of as a street food in Tokyo rather than a gourmet dining experience. Yakitori Imai is not your typical yakitori. It is a unique and amazing culinary experience with well seasoned and cooked chicken, other poultry and vegetables. Plus miso soup and dessert. Good selection of wine, sake and craft beer as well.

Amazing Yakitori. Each skewer was well cooked and perfectly seasoned and sitting at the counter watching the action was great.

AMAZING EXPERIENCE! Yakitori has SO much care and finesse through the whole process from prepping, to cooking, to serving- it was incredible! The chef's cooked everything right in front of us with laser focus and precision. The menu was a little confusing at first but the chef that helped us in english explained it pretty well. We got the smallest Omakase option (meaning the chef's create the menu for us). We wanted to do the full option but we showed up a little later than we wanted to and they only had the option of doing the smallest menu. Regardless, it was still pretty filling even though the bites seem to be on the smaller side. Definitely a quality over quantity thing here. This place really shines light on the art of yakitori and I highly recommend it to anyone willing to spend a little more on an amazing eating experience.

Awesome place, the set courses are great and the staff is friendly. Not too expensive for what you get. Loved some of the flavor combinations here - chicken liver and strawberry yakitori? It works, it really does. Oh and speaking of chicken liver, the pate here was one of the best I've ever had. Also I had an amazing white wine here who's name I've forgotten, but drink selection on point. Always go to a nicer yakitori place if you're visiting Tokyo, and I'd definitely recommend coming to this one. Oh and protip: make a reservation online! You can't eat here without a reservation.

Had a fantastic yakitori set menu here, which for 3,800 yen was a good value. The menu included chicken soup, chicken-Liver Pâté on bread, seasonal veggies, and six yakitori courses of different parts of the chicken. The shoulder and heart were my favorites -- amazing flavors and texture -- though everything was good. At the recommendation of the guys sitting next to me, I supplemented the menu with oyakodon, which was excellent and not too big a serving, so it wasn't a stretch to finish everything. For 600 yen, it was also a good value, with lots of tender, flavorful chicken. This place has a strong selection of wines and sake, as well as beer; great to pair with the delicious food. The setting is counter-style seating around the open kitchen, which I enjoyed. It was interesting seeing all the food prepared in front of you. Service is very friendly, and though their English skills are not great, there is a menu printed in English.

The best in Yakitori! Imai San is an artist and very passionate about his craft. Very classy. My favorite place. And fine sake and organic wines! He knows his stuff. You can't go wrong here!!

Delicious yakitori - flavorful cuts of grilled chicken wing, thigh and more. Grilled liver, heart (tastes like calamari) with radishes, broccoli, carrot, etc. Beaujolais from France was an unexpected pairing for this world class meal. Allergy friendly restaurant.