A note on the words: yakitori is chicken grilled on skewers over charcoal — here binchotan, the dense white charcoal prized for its steady heat. Kashiwa is chicken meat, tsukune a minced meatball, bonjiri the tail, yagen nankotsu breastbone cartilage, sasami the breast fillet, atsuage thick fried tofu, chikan the blood-rich liver, and chochin the prized skewer of egg yolks still on the ovary. Omakase means you leave the choice to the chef. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Toriyoshi, Nakameguro main shop on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
We finished early in Meguro and went to Nakameguro to find something to eat. The hugely famous yakitori house “Toriyoshi” is nearby. “It is far too famous, we probably cannot get in — but shall we at least look?” — and there was space. Lucky!
A great house where you cannot book, only queue! It really is a matter of timing.
You can ask for a menu, but the default is omakase — chef’s choice!
The style is that skewers keep coming forever. When you have had enough, you declare a stop. Anything already on the grill still comes, so declaring slightly early may be wise^^ I would love to go round the whole card, but… could I actually eat it all?
So, having asked for omakase, the first thing to arrive was a set of three^^
Now, once the barley-shochu soda arrives, preparations are complete!!!!
First, “kashiwa”. Buying whole Date chickens from Fukushima allows the luxury of skewering thigh and breast together on one stick! One bite and it is juicy and plump. Cooked over Kishu binchotan charcoal, the meat is moist and smooth, and the fatty savour of the thigh and the fibrous quality of the breast take turns asserting themselves along a single skewer! The tare is light and not too sweet, so the chicken’s own savour comes through honestly.
The very first skewer, and already this! Delicious!
Then “tsukune”. Kashiwa, bonjiri, cartilage and neck meat combined and grilled from raw as a meatball. It comes softly apart the instant you bite, then the crunch of the cartilage follows — a relay race of textures, and great fun. Crisp outside, juicy within.
This atsuage is apparently a hidden speciality!
Grilled slowly over Kishu binchotan, the fried tofu colours crisp and fragrant outside while the inside stays airily soft. Bite in and the gentle sweetness of the soybean floods out. Delicious! What coats the surface is the house tare, topped up continuously since the shop opened. That light sweet-savouriness combined with the toastiness of the charcoal makes it “an atsuage only a yakitori house can produce”. Yes — if it is available, order it!
Quail eggs — “shiratama” is a rather elegant name for them!
The surface is a handsome golden brown, with a beautiful glaze of tare. In the mouth the outside is cooked firm and taut while the centre sits somewhere around a moist half-set. That dense yolk flavour is concentrated and delicious!
Fragrant outside, juices held within — exactly the right degree of cooking. The first bite is crisp and supple, the second firm and forceful, and the more you chew the more the chicken’s own savour seeps out. That muscular chew peculiar to gizzard is irresistible!
The faint bitterness and juiciness of the shishito peppers reset the palate completely!
This is my great favourite! At last! Yagen nankotsu — breastbone cartilage!
The instant it enters your mouth: crunch, snap, crackle — that brisk texture is irresistible^^ Cartilage, and yet a faint meaty savour lingers, lifted cleanly by a sharp salt seasoning. Being a cut with almost no fat, it also works perfectly as a palate cleanser after several rich skewers in a row. Pairing it with barley-shochu soda is sublime!
Scorching hot onion. Is this not a spectacular sight?!
Coloured fragrantly outside, cooked until meltingly soft within. Bite into a thick-cut piece and sweet onion juices burst through your whole mouth! That deep, nourishing sweetness with a faint caramel note — delicious!
Crisp and toasty outside from the binchotan, plump and springy inside. Bite down hard and the dense, fatty savour comes flooding out…! No cloying heaviness — only the chicken’s savour, tightly concentrated!
Cooked exactly so that the centre stays faintly pink. The surface glistens with tare, and biting in, the dense, sticky texture peculiar to liver and an iron-like savour surge out. Properly grilled and yet never dry. Liver is wonderful!
Large pieces of sasami breast fillet with a firm hit of wasabi. Fragrant outside, moist and tender within, with a refined texture that comes softly apart in the mouth. And then the wasabi shoots up through the nose, drawing the delicate sweetness of the sasami taut. The sasami itself is properly juicy, with no dryness at all. Delicious!
The tips are charred fragrantly crisp while the thick stalk keeps all its moisture — exactly the right cooking. Bite in and sweet asparagus juices spread out.
And here, stop! The last skewer was already on the grill, so I called a halt there!
Completely full and thoroughly satisfied!
So — Toriyoshi, entered by pure luck! It was my first time, and every skewer was of tremendously high quality and thoroughly delicious. The style of sitting at the counter and receiving scorching skewers by omakase is great fun! I wanted to go round the whole card, but I do not think I could have managed it!
I did want to get as far as chochin!
Next time I am in Nakameguro I shall peer in, and come back if the chance arises! This system is hard on a small appetite — next time I shall start with the chochin…!
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Toriyoshi, Nakameguro main shop (yakitori / Nakameguro Station, Daikanyama Station, Yutenji Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★★☆ 4.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
