SHIBUYA: Toritake REVISITED! Chunky Yakitori with a local crowd... friendly friendly.

Can't believe its been nearly 3.5yrs since my last visit to Toritake... but after a long day at the Cinco De Mayo festival in Yoyogi-Koen we headed down to Shibuya for some Yakitori.

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2009/12/toritake-tori-ta-keh-in-shibuya.html

The automatic Otoshi appetizer... seasoned veggies.

1st floor had a combination of counter seating and seats but all full so headed up to the 2nd floor.

The yakitori was soooo chunky and flavorful.  Good stuff.

Of course Sake~

2nd Floor very busy busy... and I guess there is a bit of counter seating for 4.

Going from the 2nd floor to 1st...

1st Floor diners.

And looks like there's standing area outside with yellow beer bottle cases.  You'll have a great view of the Yakitori chefs from this spot too but it can get very smokey as its near the vents.

Overall its just a great place to enjoy Yakitori in a very Japanese environment... nice mix of people from all age groups and just a few minutes walk from Shibuya Station.  Was great to be back again.

Restaurant: ToriTake

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13001702/

Address J: 東京都渋谷区道玄坂1-6-1

Address E: Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Dogenzaka 1-6-1
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EKODA: Oshidori Izakaya for a wonderful Motsu-Nikomi-Teishoku!

I'm huuuuge fan of Motsu-Nikomi and even a bigger fan of reasonably priced food so this menu caught my eye.  570yen for a full Motsu-Nikomi Lunch! I'm there!

This place was incredibly spacious... some tables but mostly floor seating.

I later looked at this menu and noticed they have Sashimi Teishoku for 780yen!  The guy next to ordered it and wow there was so much fish... On my list for next week!

Arrived fairly quickly.

This was just soooo tasty with a nice spicy kick.  Super tender pieces of Motsu YUM!!

Long table seating...

Interesting crowd.  Elderly, young couples, college guys and families. Everyone loves this place.

Featured on Sakaba TV show where this guy goes into great Japanese restaurants to eat and drink and chat with the customers. http://www.bs-tbs.co.jp/sakaba/

Seasonal Japanese Flowers... all over town.  I'll be back Oshidori!

Restaurant: Oshidori

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13017067/

Address J: 東京都練馬区栄町4-1

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Sakaecho 4-1
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NERIMA: Matsuya (REVISITED) for some Tomato Cheese Chicken Katsu!

Its so hard to not notice the 500yen "one coin" meals with miso soup and rice... But this day there were 3  items on Sale!  

Cheese Tomato Sasami (white chicken meat) 590yen, Fried oysters with mini salad 670yen or the Sasami Curry (white chicken meat) with Mini Salad 580yen.  All on Sale for 500yen :)

I'm a huge fan of tomato and cheese toppings~

A very crispy exterior and the chicken was perfectly tender ... Cheese and Tomato topping was a great alternative to the usual Tonkatsu Sauce dip. (NOTE: Chicken Imported From Brazil.)

Rice either Japanese or imported from Australia

Miso base from Japan and Seaweed from China

Side dishes

120yen Mug Coke or Orange Soda.

They also serve 300-390yen breakfast sets from 5-11am.  Overall a this place is all about value and the quality does exceed the 500yen price point.  If you ever spot on around Tokyo give it a try!  No reason to pay 2-3x more for the same dish at other franchise spots like Wako. 

For address details please click here!

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/10/nerima-matsuya-for-incredibly.html

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SHIBUYA: Gonpachi wonderfully spacious ridiculously priced Yakitori

After a few great pizza's at Shibuya's UraCona we were trying to figure out where to end the evening and just by chance walked past Shibuya Gonpachi... Not the famed rather inconvenient Kill Bill branch of Nishi Azabu but it peeked my interest.

Didn't realize elegant Legato was in the same building.

Guess Carm Douro 2010 was the wine of choice here.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/carm+douro/2010

Nice long bar counter... We were seated in the waiting area around 10:30pm... restaurant was about 20% occupied and we sat... and sat... and guess the bartender forgot to let the waitress know about us.

Great "L" counter seating with direct view of the Yakitori Chef.

Wine bottles started at 1,980yen... not too bad.

But the shocker was the price of the Yakitori.  Easily costing 2.5-3x more than the majority of great spots in Tokyo and volume of meat was painfully low. OH! This spot has a devastatingly low foodie ranking of 3.02 points... meaning the local non-tourist crowd was not impressed.

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13005404/

Picked out my favorite Bonjiri (Chicken Butt), Liver and one other...

Supermarket Kyushu Young Chic "Bonjiri" in its pre-yakitori'd form.

Ordered Imo-Jochu but the hot tea was free I think.

Yakitori sticks unnecessarily placed in a fancy refrigeration display kinda like Sushi.

Closed with Engiri (mushroom) and Mini-Tomato wrapped in Bacon... ugh the cost performance was so low.  Makes me quite sad to see how much they can charge for Yakitori but then again the restaurant was so immaculately clean, super spacious, high ceilings and service from the chef/waitress was spectacular.

There are private rooms in the back for the celebs... but I suggest sitting in front of the Yakitori Chef.  The circulation system was very good so no smokey smoke on your clothes.

Nice view of tiny Tokyo tower from the glass elevator.  Overall if I was seeking comfort/spaciousness/spot on great service I'd go back to Gonpachi.  But for those who are hungry and not on an expense account there are so many other truly historic old skool Yakitori shops that hands down will blow away Shibuya Gonpachi in any taste/volume test.  One is DEFINITELY... Kushiwakamaru in Nakameguro!  Or if you are on a budget just hit up Torikizoku (280yen 2 stick franchise everywhere). 

Shop: Gonpachi Shibuya Branch

Shop Website: http://www.gonpachi.jp/shibuya/menu/?lang=en

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13005404/

Address J: 東京都渋谷区円山町3-6 スペースタワー 14F

Address E: Tokyo, Shibuya-lu, Maruyamacho 3-6, 14F
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