A note on the words: yakitori is chicken grilled on skewers over charcoal, and the parts have names of their own — bonjiri is the tail. Bou-bou yaki takes its name from the sound of a fire flaring up, and the article explains how it is cooked. Yodare-dori is a Sichuan cold chicken dish whose name means drool chicken, and mala is the numbing-and-hot combination of Sichuan pepper and chili. Route 246 is the wide avenue running through Omotesando, known by its road number. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Higonoya Omotesando on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. “Higonoya” is a shop that’s done a lot for me over the years. There are branches in Gaienmae, Aoyama, and Omotesando — super casual, no-frills izakayas, lol. I’ve genuinely lost count of how many times the Gaienmae branch has bailed me out. This time I decided to try the Omotesando branch ^^ It’s properly cheap and easy to use, which is great. And having a spot like this in such a fashionable area is a real point in its favor — finding a no-frills izakaya around here is honestly hard work.
The Omotesando branch is in the basement.
Walking in, there’s a great, chaotic energy to the place, lol. Is this really Omotesando?
I imagine plenty of you are thinking, “how would I know that,” but…
Higonoya means one thing above all — bou-bou yaki! You absolutely have to order it!
So, ordering a la carte, more or less at random.
First, a mega highball! Only 600 yen! When in doubt, go mega and you’ll be fine.
And this is the bou-bou yaki.
The idea is simple: chicken on a wire net, thrown right into blazing (bou-bou) flames and grilled. They keep basting it with its own fat as it roars away over the fire, and the char that results is wonderfully fragrant. It goes brilliantly with yuzu kosho too — simple, but with real depth.
Piping-hot chicken with yuzu kosho is just too perfect with a highball. And it comes with cabbage on the side, which is great too!
A Chinese-style spicy scallion and chicken skin snack.
Two subtly different kinds of heat — from the scallion and from the chili oil — plus that sharp scallion aroma that hits the back of your nose. Wonderful!
Yodare-dori. Not the properly authentic version, of course, but honestly, this is good enough!
It’s more like chicken ham with a mala sauce poured over it, with plenty of bean sprouts and cucumber. Tasty!
Figured we should have at least a couple of skewers, so two sticks of bonjiri ^^
Juicy, fatty, and good!
Ah, a no-frills izakaya where you can just relax without any pretense is the best. Especially along Route 246, which is packed with fashionable, polished places — having a shop like Higonoya around is genuinely great. Come to think of it, the Aoyama, Omotesando, and Gaienmae branches all seem to sit along Route 246, lol. A bou-bou yaki shop in a good location — worth remembering!
Higonoya Omotesando (izakaya / Omotesando Station, Gaienmae Station, Meiji-jingumae Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
