Thursday, December 14, 2006

Yakitori

Yakitori is the latest culinary craze in New York City, following the popularity of habachi in the 1980s (Benihana, anyone?) and sushi (Nobu) in the 1990s. Yakitori literally means grilled chicken in Japanese but it is often used to describe a method of cooking, that is grilled (food) on skewers.

At least three yakitori restaurants have opened on St. Mark's Place in the last year. The East Village area has always been a popular spot for all things Japanese, from the grocery stores and delis to the bookstores and restaurants.

This photo was taken at Oh Taisho, one of the yakitori restaurants on St. Mark's Place. The restaurant has about 20 tables and long counter facing the small open kitchen where you can watch as your food is being prepared. Most of the items on the menu are grilled (obviously) but there are also other options like ramen (noodle soups), yakisoba (stir-fried soba noodles), okonomiyaki (pancakes), and tempura (battered and fried items).

N.B.: I love the okonomiyaki!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can almost smell it! I haven't heard of this before.

Anonymous said...

i like okonomi-yaki too!!

Ming the Merciless said...

The yakitori was delicious but it was a little expensive for the amount of food we got. After dinner, we were still hungry so we ordered okonomiyaki and sobayaki. :-)

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm, that's more my kind of food!

Jing said...

:)
oh, sounds very taste!!

jing
have a nice friday.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog from the big apple, though never been there yet.

pennyblack said...

one of my favorite restaurants here is a yakitori shop. wow, i guess if i move back to America and ever miss Japan i should just go to New York.

my favorite yakitori dishes:
momo, sauce
skin, salt (has to be extra crispy)
sand stomach, salt
soft bone, salt

off the stick-
raw liver with garlic and sesame oil
hormon

--give'em a try.

Ming the Merciless said...

Brew, you should come visit! NYC is a great city to see, esp. after Thanksgiving when the Christmas decorations are all out.

Pennyback, I have tried the chicken meatballs and chicken skin yakitori, but not the others you mentioned. I will definitely check it out. Did you say raw liver?!?!?!? Hmmmmmm!!!!