Kushiwakamaru Honten

The yakitori is fantastic, but, like a lot of places in Japan, you could be sitting next to someone who incessantly smokes. If you would prefer a separate non-​smoking section or a restaurant that doesn’t allow smoking, this is not the place for you. I was able to enjoy my food despite the smoke, but my wife thought the experience was ruined.

Wow. I mean seriously wow. Old school yakitori charm with fantastic service and absolutely delicious morsels of things on sticks– I mean seriously I love this place.
You start off with a big bowl of little and daikon — a bit scary if you ask me– and it really had no taste. I will try and skip this next time if I can.
Onto the main event: yakitori!
Chicken meatballs, ginkgo, chicken filet with leeks, Bacon wrapped Mochi, pepper stuffed with cheese and bacon, egg… Oh man it’s so delicious that I’m drooling over the keyboard right now. Only thing I was a bit disappointed in was the duck– a bit dry and over cooked but overall it’s amazing food.
Highly highly recommended. After the gluttony I suggest you walk over to the meguro riverside for a nice after dinner stroll.
Simply delicious here.

If you are ever in Tokyo, you MUST COME HERE. Best yakitori I have EVER had! If you’re not a local at least. But seriously, this place is pretty damn good.
For those traveling Unilocalers that aren’t Japan locals, this ones for you guys. This place is pretty poppin’ I came on a Sunday night with my friends for our last night in Japan and it was packed! Luckily we were the only ones in line, but when we left there was a new line. I would suggest going on a weekday to avoid madness.
Some non-​food related points:
–smoking is allowed inside (not that uncommon in Japan)
–it’s a small place so if it’s packed, it does get a bit hectic and loud if you’re looking for a peaceful dinner, probably not the right place
–they have coat racks! Pretty awesome and definitely needed with the cold weather outside but the compact space and massive amounts of body warmth inside.
Food!!!
–smoked duck breast ⁵⁄₅: this was my first order and I have never been more in love with a piece of meat. Super tender and huge pieces of meat compared to most yakitori places. Around $ 3 – 4 a skewer (forgot the exact price) but it’s SO good. I got it twice, I had to resist a third round for the sake of my wallet.
–beef ⁴⁄₅: once again, the sizes of meat here is great. You feel like you’re actually getting your money’s worth. Grilled perfectly but beef was a little tougher than duck, and I like tender meats. But for those who are big fans of beef, definitely worth trying.
–Chicken gizzard ⁴⁄₅: the texture was great, chewy and grilled well. It wasn’t burnt and crisp like most places. But unfortunately it was too salty! I hope it was just a fluke though, I think it was because nothing else was overly salted at all. I hesitated from saying anything because I don’t speak the language…:(
–Chicken heart ⁵⁄₅: yum. I love the texture of chicken heart, it’s really tender and chewy. A bit softer than gizzard.
–chicken ⁵⁄₅: very tender! I’m always impressed when people grill chicken correctly and are able to retain the moisture and tenderness! Large pieces of course.
–appetizer: upon sitting they give you this bowl of daikon and shirasu (small white fish very common in Japan) and my friends and I were so confused! I knew it was edible so we tried it and it didn’t have any flavor. I ended up eating it in between bites of my gizzard to balance the saltiness. Later on a waitress told us to use some soy sauce and chili powder and mix it! Surprisingly good. It was nice and refreshing. Honestly I don’t know if everyone gets this dish or if we were asked and we accidentally said yes… but it was worth an experience!
There’s a lot of different foods to choose from here that I could go on for days, but this place is really great. Service was good, they’re constantly walking around to see if people need refills or want to order more. I could see why locals enjoy it too, it seems like the perfect late night spot after a long day at work. Enjoy some skewers and some beers, it sounds like an ideal night!

This is my «Go To» restaurant in Tokyo! A small restaurant off the beaten path that is simply outstanding!
I was first brought here by a Japanese consultant and friend 7 years ago and I try to go there every time I visit Japan. It never fails to deliver on outstanding taste! In fact, a new Japanese colleague posted on FB that his new American partner just introduced him to an incredible Yakatori restaurant in Tokyo!
Every thing is very good but my favorites include the chicken wings, chicken breast, steak, duck, cheese-​stuffed green peppers and the special potatoes that I am not sure to treat as a vegetable or dessert they are so good!
Get there early (reservations very difficult) or expect to wait outside and sign your name on the list hanging outside the door — classic! The good news is that you can order cold beer while you wait!
Can’t wait to go back!

Always my first meal in Tokyo. Absolutely delicious, everything on the menu. Be prepared for a little wait to get seated. Menu is also in English, so don’t let that hold you back.
My favs?
Ginkgo nuts
Chicken meatball
Cheese filled pepper
Potato
Quail egg
And of course, paired with a few ume-​shu sodas!

Generally speaking, Yakitori is hard to fail unless you burn the shit out of it. So I haven’t really been to any Yakitori joints that was too awful to taste.
But man… I never knew that Yakitori can be sooooo good! Is the meat fresh or they have their own farm and feeding chicken something special to make the meat taste so good?
It was feckin’ orgasmic!
This place always queue up and tough to make a reservation because it’s so popular. So, I recommend to plan in advance.

We love yakitori and I think we have found the best ones in this restaurant. The venue is located on a back street but this should not make you think that this is an unknown and mysterious place. In fact, on a Saturday evening we had to wait almost one hour and a half in line to finally enter in the restaurant.
The place is small, they have few tables and you can also sit at the counter. I would suggest picking one of the counter seats, if available, as the yakitori masters will give the skewers to you as soon as they are ready off the grill.
They have English menu and a large selection of yakitori. Chicken, meat, vegetables, seafood. Yakitoris as single skewers and they are priced at around 250 yen each. They are big, with a lot of meat. Sure, you can find places that sell cheaper yakitori but they will be at least half of the ones that you get here. And these are gooooooooooooood! I forgot the one hour and a half life after I gave the first bite!
In conclusion, great food, lively ambient, English menu, but long line. Highly recommended. Just bring some manga with you while you wait in line :-)

Very good yakitori place. I had Green pepper (pimiento de padron-​ish) with chicken breast, duck breast, pork cheek, chicken meat ball wrapped in leaf (don’t remember the name), bacon wrapped asparagus and Hokkaido potatoes. Also tried some eel, beef, ginkgo beans and eggplant.
If I had to choose 4, I would go for duck breast, pork cheek, bacon asparagus and potatoes.
Write your name and the number of people in your party on the list outside and don’t forget to be there when they call your name. ;)

Absolutely loved this place! Think we got so lucky, only a few hours in Japan and we picked this little jem for our first meal of the holidays.
The restaurant has a great atmosphere, it was packed with what felt like a local crowd. The staff were very friendly and they have an English menu, so all good. So this is a yakitori restaurant, pretty much everything is impaled on a stick and barbecued. It’s best to do a couple of rounds of orders and share what you get, figure out what you like the first round and go from there. There are a lot of chicken options (gizzards, giblets and cartilage included), as well as a few beef and duck options. I thought the cartilage was tasty but the texture might put some people off. The duck and beef are great. The stuffed peppers and mushrooms were great too, would recommend.
Each yakitori cost between ¥180 and ¥360. A big feed and two large beers a head came to ¥3,600 each, which I thought was great value for what we got (€ 25 each). This place does seem highly rated locally, we got talking to locals on the street later that night and they were very impressed we had been here :-D
Ps. The yakitori sticks go in the cool mug.