Japan has a lot of awesome izakaya restaurants. It is a Japanese pub with small plates of food, like tapas, that you share with your family and friends. My foodie sister took us to one izakaya that specializes in chicken. This place is a local favorite mom & pop eatery, for more than 30 years.

What I didn’t know is that this place has been featured in TV shows, including by Anthony Bourdain on his series “No Reservations” several years ago! What makes this place unique is that the owner gets the chicken on that morning, and cleans and prepares the bird by himself, cooked in front of the customers as orders come in. We went on Monday evening, still early, so the inside was quite empty. We were taken to their second floor dining room.

Second floor was designed for more of group seating. Here, you need to take your shoes off and sit on the floor cushion. It is horigotatsu style, so there is a hole under the table for your legs to dangle, rather than just sitting on the floor directly. The place got busier and busier as time went on, I could see it was a popular hangout for locals, coming in after work.

Since izakaya offers tapa-style small dishes, customers tend to put in several small orders throughout their dinner. To make it easier to do that, there is a little bell that you can push every time you are ready to order additional dishes. It is connected to their intercom system, so a staff will come right over within a minute or two of you pressing the button.

We started with beer, which came in a HUGE jugs. And I mean, HUGE! They brought us complimentary dish, which was a small container of natto, or fermented beans, with raw egg.

For natto lovers like us, it was such a nice little treat! We mixed up and enjoyed it very much. I wish if I had a small bowl of white rice to go with it, but regardless, it was fresh and tasty.

We were also given a complimentary soup made with none other than chicken broth. It was so good, deep and rich flavor, very comforting. It had some veggies in it, great way to start the dinner!

They had a special menu on their wall that highlighted their popular and signature dishes, stating “these items are what you need to eat to become Toriki.” We ordered several items off that menu. First one was Sasami Oroshi (550 yen/per order), which is a white chicken meat with grated daikon. It came on a metal plate, no-frills here.

The grated daikon was very fresh and refreshing. We added some soy sauce and poured it onto the hot chicken.

The meat was juicy and tender, with still slightly pink in the inside. As the chicken is so very fresh, it is ok to have the pink in the center. They even have chicken sashimi here, which is somewhat a rare delicacy. You can only do that with really fresh chicken. Their cook their chicken on electric grill to keep a steady temperature, which allows them to cook evenly and consistently, just the way they want, every single time. The result was whole lots of deliciousness. Soft and decadent, juicy and packed with flavor with just a hint of salt. No extra fancy spices here, enhancing the natural flavor of the fresh chicken meat.

Next item was their Yakitori (620 yen/per order). I think this is more than one order, since there are four of us, and we all love yakitori… Tender and juicy breast meat with leeks. Look at these beauty on the shiny platter!

Since the chicken is cooked on over 900 degree Celsius, the exterior is charred and firm, yet the inside is really juicy and soft. Again, their is just a hint of salt, not fancy seasonings on it. Just the flavor of the ingredients, heightened to maximum!

Then we changed up and went to Karaage, or Japanese Fried Chicken (790 yen/per order). It is their own special karaage, with their secret sauce and process. They marinate the chicken beforehand, and created a special batter to make the best karaage. It is also known for its size, and yes, they are huge! It was really nice, crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside. It had great flavor on its own, it didn’t need any additional flavoring.

The last Momo Tataki (810 yen/per order). This is their original signature menu. Thigh meat cooked in tataki style, which is half-cooked, half-raw. Again, only super fresh chicken can be served this way. Another thing is that the chicken here (and most restaurants in Japan) are of special breed, and undergo very strict sanitary process. Therefore, they are very safe to be consumed this way when it is super fresh.

It came with its own dipping sauce, and oh my goodness, it was amazing! It had crunchy skin with soft, tender meat, very juicy and flavorful. The meat is mostly cooked, not so raw as I have seen in some other photos. Regardless, it was amazing! Really delicious, fresh, tasty and great texture.

We decided to end the chicken medley with their fabulous Chawanmushi (600 yen). It is a Japanese egg custard dish, cooked in a steam pot. It came in a very cute container especially made for chawanmushi.

It had some veggies like mushroom and mitsuba, and it had some chicken pieces. It was creamy, velvety, and very comforting. I could taste their dashi with chicken broth, creating rich and decadent flavor that just relaxes you from inside and out. Great way to end the tasty dinner.

This was a fun visit to this izakaya with specialty in chicken. The quality was high, yet affordable and accessible. Atmosphere was cozy and homey, and the staffs were very efficient, polite and friendly. I can see the reason why this place if popular among the locals and alike. A perfect spot for chicken lovers for sure!

Toriki – 3-11-13 Hatanodai, Shinagawa, Tokyo Japan

鳥樹 – 東京都品川区旗の台3-11-13