Behind Glass Walls

Seeing as how I wrote something about yakitori (grilled chicken) as recently as January 20, you’d think it would be enough on that subject for a while. But as luck would have it, I got invited out for dinner tonight at another yakitori restaurant, this one in Shimbashi, an area in Tokyo’s Minato Ward near Ginza which is a business area by day, and a bustling eating and drinking hub by night. Most restaurants in the area are all very crowded on weeknights, but not so busy on weekends.

My longtime friend, Itô-san made the reservation at Tori Dori in Shimbashi because she had on an earlier occasion been to the Yokohama branch of this restaurant and thought it very good. Yakitori comes in a variety of settings, and while one restaurant may be noisy and jumping with customers doing more drinking than eating, another may be quiet and sedate with tatami floors and kimono clad servers. Tori Dori falls into the second category and is one of those very traditional places where you remove your shoes at the entrance and proceed to your table across pristine tatami mats. There is a dining counter for those who like to watch the cooks preparing the yakitori, and there are also glass enclosed private dining spaces for those who want to be out of the traffic. Itô-san and I chose the latter. The picture at the top shows a view of the small two-person space as we entered. It wasn’t much bigger than it looks in the picture, but it was comfortable. The floor under the table is recessed, and diners sit on the floor on either side of the table. As I said above, the small area is totally glass enclosed and private, as least as far as conversation goes.

They don’t offer English, but the rather elaborate Japanese menu includes photos of every item on the menu, so choosing what to eat is no problem. Itô-san and I didn’t try any of the servers out in English, but my guess is language wouldn’t pose an insurmountable problem.

Everything we ordered was excellent. The fish in the appetizers was freshly caught, and the basket of vegetable sticks, as well as the white radish salad with greens all looked and tasted garden fresh. We had a plate of standard grilled chicken on skewers some wrapped with bacon and asparagus, and we also had a plate of chicken tempura with grated radish, green onion and ponzu, a citrus based sauce. Later we had something I was unable to figure out, other than recognizing it as tôfu cooked with mushrooms in a thick Chinese sauce—at least I thought it was a Chinese sauce, but I could be off on that. It too was tasty.

The middle photo will give you an incomplete glimpse of a couple of the things described, and the bottom photo shows two cups of tea with a dessert called the ‘chocolate plate,’ which included cake, ice cream, pudding and short sticks of milk chocolate.

It was very satisfying meal in a comfortable setting, and not terribly expensive. If you’re in Tokyo I recommend you give it a try.

TORI DORI

1-7-1 Shimbashi

TH Ginza Building B1

Tel: 0120-880-271 or 03-5537-1041

Yakitori

Feeling sort of chatty lately about my little Japanese home ground of Kugayama. There are probably all sorts of conveniences and comforts lacking in the daily life of this wee town, but there are as well more than enough special qualities and advantages that we enjoy. I have mentioned in earlier blog posts that the area has many trees and abundant greenery. It’s also an express stop on the Inokashira train line, which means the center of Tokyo is no more than twelve minutes away. Overall, it is a desirable residential area for many people. But for a long time I have felt the one thing missing is a choice of good restaurants.

Tokyo in recent years has become a city where food or cuisine of all kinds can be found without much difficulty. Whatever your craving, be it Greek, Mexican, North African or American, you will find it somewhere in this great city. Unfortunately, none of those restaurants have made their way to Kugayama.

Not exactly a listing in the Michelin Guide, but Kugayama does have a splendid yakitori shop. For those unfamiliar with this traditional Japanese dish, yakitori is basically grilled chicken, but prepared and cooked in a variety of ways. Imagine slivers of chicken on wooden sticks or skewers cooking on an open grill—that’s what yakitori is.

Yakitori Ishii is situated near the train tracks on a busy street in Kugayama. It has no more than four employees, who work in the tiny shop Tuesday through Sunday. Eight years ago the small building housing the restaurant was a near-abandoned property before a local woman decided to renovate the building and open a yakitori shop. From the start it was a popular spot, and the owner never had to struggle to attract customers. With its tiny size, Yakitori Ishii is not a place where you can sit down for dinner; everything is made right in front of you, but for take-out only. But that has in no way stopped customers from lining up for the different types of yakitori on the menu. The end of the year is the busiest time because many people like to serve yakitori at parties.

I myself like this traditional Japanese dish and go to Yakitori Ishii fairly often, but I have to admit that my taste for it is somewhat picky. For me, the liver and chicken skin are not too appealing. Below is a list of the basic items on their menu.

tsukune — seasoned balls of chicken grilled on a skewer

negima — chunks of lean chicken and leek on a skewer

chicken livers — skewered and grilled

tebasaki — grilled chicken wings

roasted chicken thighs

deep fried chicken nuggets

kawa — roasted chicken skin

roasted sweet potato

Usually we can find several kinds of Japanese pickles on the menu, some of which are in the bottom photo.

As I said earlier, Kugayama is short of good restaurants, but we at least have Yakitori Ishii. Should you find yourself in the neighborhood one of these days, don’t pass it by.