復活KOKOKO
Last year, I ate a lot of yakitori, but this year I haven't been to a yakitori restaurant yet. Many of the restaurants I frequent, including Uchida, are closed for business during the state of emergency. Today, I came to "Yotsuya Rebaya," which I had planned to visit on February 11th, a holiday, but I received a call from the restaurant saying that they would only be open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays due to profitability reasons. So, I changed my reservation to today, Sunday, in order to satisfy my craving for yakitori. When I arrived 10 minutes earlier than the 4:30 reservation time, my wife, who was meeting me there, had already arrived, and the restaurant, which was supposed to open at 4:30, was already open. Upon entering, we were seated at a table for two after giving our names to the staff. We started with a Kirin Lager 550 yen + tax for a medium bottle for a toast. The appetizer was shirasu with grated daikon. The appetizer cost 300 yen + tax per person. Looking at the food menu, I was impressed by the variety of rare chicken skewers and the lack of non-yakitori items such as pork skewers. For our first dish, we had a half portion of Torioi's fried tofu for 360 yen + tax. It was a huge piece of fried tofu with plenty of green onions and shaved bonito flakes, more than enough for two people. The second dish was cucumber for 300 yen + tax. It was roughly cut for some reason. I decided to switch to sake at this point. I ordered two servings of Kito Special Junmai Jikomi for 800 yen per serving. It was a good sake with a sharp and stimulating gas, a light taste, and a unique fruity flavor. Next, we ordered various skewers. The items we ordered were as follows: Munamoto 210 yen + tax, Liver 150 yen + tax, Goro (tsukune) 220 yen, Momo 150 yen + tax, Obi 160 yen + tax, Azuki 160 yen + tax, Aida 160 yen + tax, Sori (loin meat) 210 yen + tax, Yagen Nankotsu 160 yen + tax, Seseri 150 yen + tax. We left the flavors of the skewers up to the chef, and only the Goro (tsukune) was served with sauce. The MVP was definitely the loin meat, which is considered the champion of yakitori cuts. It was full of flavor, and just eating that one skewer made the visit worthwhile. My wife kept saying how delicious the Goro (tsukune) was. This item was sold out shortly after we ordered it. There were many delicious items, but some skewers were less satisfying than others. If I come back again, I wouldn't order Yagen Nankotsu, Seseri, or Aida. On the other hand, I wanted to try Achilles and Peta, but I was too full to order them, and I regretted it. Finally, at my wife's request, we finished with Tori Soup for 210 yen. We added another serving of Jokigen for 570 yen + tax, and the total bill for two people was 7,050 yen. We spent about 2 hours and 10 minutes there, which was quite long, but understandable for grilled dishes. After 5:00, more customers started coming in, and the first floor was temporarily full. I thought it must be a very popular restaurant as the holiday location had few people passing by. "When the state of emergency is lifted, I want to go to Uchida and here." I was told by a senior colleague during a recent Zoom drinking party. This made me crave yakitori. I didn't fulfill my craving 100%, but I was able to satisfy it to some extent.