At first glance, you might think it's a shop with a difficult owner and regular customers, but surprisingly, the customer service is friendly. The style is mainly salt-based for the yakitori sauce/salt, automatically decided. All the flavors are delicious. The tsukune, in particular, is exquisite. It seems easy to enter even for one person.

I went with a friend and there were two of us. The restaurant has an old-fashioned feel, with plenty of table seats. The yakitori also has a traditional feel to it. Nowadays, there are places that focus on how to eat each part of the chicken, and they serve one skewer at a time on individual plates like sushi, but here, they bring everything together in a big serving. It was great to gather around and enjoy yakitori together with everyone.

I went to Toriyoshi in Ogikubo, Tokyo, a highly rated yakitori restaurant. I started with the five skewers platter and the liver was cooked perfectly, rare but carefully grilled. The ramen at the end was not chicken soup as expected, but a hearty fish-based broth! The mini size was a nice touch!

This is a restaurant located in a back alley near Ogikubo South Exit. The atmosphere both outside and inside seems nice. I visited on a holiday evening and it was already crowded, but I managed to get a seat. This time, I was seated in a tatami room. It was relaxing. I ordered the following dishes: - Assorted grilled skewers (5 pieces) for 1000 yen including tax. A must-try here! - Ramen appetizer plate for 550 yen including tax. It includes chashu, menma, and boiled egg, making it a solid appetizer. - Homemade potato salad for 400 yen including tax. Topped with chopped green onions for a refreshing touch. - Regular ramen for 500 yen including tax. If you put the leftover ramen appetizer on top, it becomes a proper ramen dish! The soup is soy sauce-based, but probably enhanced by chicken broth. - Bottled beer (Akahoshi) for 600 yen including tax. Happy to see Akahoshi Lager. The service at the restaurant is good, and the atmosphere is just great. It's a comfortable place to be. Thank you for the meal.

I felt like eating yakitori and visited a restaurant in Ogikubo that I had not been to before. It seemed to have reopened in July. I ordered a highball, chicken gizzard, and chicken thigh. The appetizers were cold tofu. The portions of gizzard and thigh were small but seasoned well. I heard their ramen is also popular, so I would like to try it when I'm hungry. Thank you for the meal.

I came here wanting to have a drink. I ordered my favorite dishes like fried chicken and yakitori. As for the taste, I am quite picky when it comes to yakitori, and for a store that has a branch in Ogikubo Lumine, I felt like they could do better. The atmosphere of the store and the drinks were not bad though. The staff were all beautiful and polite, but it was a bit disappointing.

Recently, I have been going out to eat yakitori quite frequently and I am starting to worry that I might turn into a bird like my senior who eats too much yakitori. Today, I met up with a junior from the same hometown and we decided to drink in Ogikubo after a long time. We planned to go to "Kamitori" near the station, but it was full. Since both of us were in yakitori mode, we decided to try a nearby yakitori restaurant called "Toriyoshi". I heard that they have been in business for 60 years. It was our first time at this restaurant, so when I asked my junior for recommendations, he pointed out the dishes written on the blackboard as the recommended ones. Looking at the blackboard again, I saw dishes like chicken skin with ponzu sauce, chicken skin with daikon radish, kimchi tofu, senkawa, bera, aburi tsubo, yagen, and soriresu. Bera? Is that a monster? Aburi tsubo? Yagen? Soriresu? Sounds like something from a movie... All of them were a mystery to me. My junior found it amusing and suggested, "Let's order everything, Moca-san." When the dishes were grilled and brought to us, the server explained, "From bottom to top, it's senkawa, bera, aburi tsubo, yagen, and soriresu." Ah, they are different parts of the chicken! Let's try them. Senkawa was understandable, it's the skin around the chicken neck. Not bad. Bera...similar to gizzard. Not my favorite. Aburi tsubo...the base of the tail. Pretty much like tail meat. Tasty. Yagen...chest cartilage. A rare part, but not my favorite. Soriresu...pelvic muscles. Not my favorite. I guess I can't become a yakitori expert after all. My junior seemed to enjoy all the unique parts, but I personally liked the liver and regular meat the best. ♡

Now, for a change of pace, how about a second stop at a yakitori and ramen restaurant today? I ordered chicken sashimi with salted cucumber, and the lemon sour is served in a large glass. After enjoying two sours, I headed to the restroom, where I saw a notice that due to understaffing, they are limiting the seating in the tatami room. There are three people in the kitchen, but it does seem like they are a bit slow in preparing and serving the dishes to the tables. As for the finishing touch, the salt ramen was unexpectedly filling, with a soup that reminded me of tantanmen when I added garlic.

A few minutes walk from Ogikubo Station South Exit in Suginami-ku, Tokyo. The area along the Chuo Line is full of various shops and I love it. This restaurant, established in 1960, is a historic establishment. When making a reservation, I was told to make sure it's "Ogikubo Toriyoshi" and not a similar-looking restaurant to avoid confusion. The place was fully booked when I arrived, so I couldn't get in without a reservation. The interior of the restaurant is surprisingly spacious and decorated with folk art, creating an interesting atmosphere. They use whole chickens, so you can enjoy all parts of the chicken. I started with the famous chicken Karaage that even Yoshida Rui tried. This time, I ordered a half portion. The unique flavor comes from frying in chicken fat. Now, let's try some rare parts: Kidneys, Heart Meat, Gizzard, Lower Belly Skin, Breastbone, and Shin. Still more to go! The food was overall good, but the yakitori was a bit burnt on the outside and cold inside. Yakitori should be cooked 70% on the outside, but maybe they were too busy to keep up. Despite that, I enjoyed my experience at this bustling restaurant. Cheers to the journey in search of food and drink at this sacred place...Pan Taifu's food adventure. This is how it should be!

It was a cozy izakaya. The ramen seemed to be popular as everyone was eating it. I want to try the ramen next time! Although I don't have a photo, the lotus root meatballs and salad were delicious.

I was taken by a regular customer on a weekday night. The atmosphere and service of the izakaya were excellent! They butcher the whole chicken, so the meat is fresh and delicious. We ordered recommended dishes such as chicken liver, assorted yakitori, hot pot, chicken rice in a pot, and sake. The must-try dishes are the chicken liver and chicken rice in a pot. The chicken liver is sliced thinly and served with wasabi soy sauce and mitsuba for a refreshing touch. The chicken rice in a pot consists of soy sauce rice, minced chicken, and mitsuba. Mix it all together, sprinkle some sansho pepper, and it's delicious. Furthermore, pouring the leftover soup from the hot pot over it enhances the flavor even more. I'll have to try the ramen next time.

I happened to stop by and was lucky to find beer for 200 yen on Tuesday. Chicken skin with ponzu sauce and menma were good choices for snacks.

Auntie recommends that the "umami" here is delicious!