A note on the words: yakitori is charcoal-grilled chicken on skewers; sunagimo is the gizzard and nankotsu the cartilage; sasami is the lean tender fillet; tsukune is a seasoned minced-chicken patty; tare is the sweet soy basting sauce; a red lantern (akachochin) hung outside is the traditional sign of a cheap, old-fashioned drinking shop; shochu is the Japanese distilled spirit, here the barley kind taken long with soda. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Sumiyaki Yakitori Tochigiya 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.
Wandering the back streets of Ebisu, saying to each other that we would rather like one more place, we spotted a shop with a wonderfully weathered frontage. A red lantern! An actual red lantern! The name: “Sumiyaki Yakitori Tochigiya”. Inside there is a long counter and perhaps three tables. It was fairly busy and the staff were run off their feet. They warned us it might take a while, but we had time, so we settled in for a slow drink.
There are all sorts of things on the menu, but we decided to have them grill us a few skewers at a time.
First, barley shochu with soda!
Mmm, delicious!! Perfect!
We started with the gizzard. Grilled firm over charcoal, crisp outside, crunchy within, with that distinctive springiness left intact — the orthodox finish. Gizzard has little of the gaminess some cuts do, and against that chew the simple salt seasoning lets the savour of the chicken seep out with every bite.
Then nankotsu, the cartilage. A favourite part of mine! That crunch is the whole point of the skewer. Grilled with salt, five neat pieces of pure cartilage, and the slightly hard bite is delicious!
Sasami, the chicken tender, is a delicate cut that changes completely with the smallest difference in cooking, and this was moist and a touch rare in the middle, breaking apart softly under the tooth. The fragrance of the wasabi and the sharpness of the lemon go beautifully with the lean, clean meat. Delicious.
A green pepper cut in half lengthways, packed tight with Tochigiya’s own tsukune mixture, then grilled slowly over charcoal. It looks marvellous! The minced meat has sesame and onion worked into it, along with various parts of the bird to give it body. The pepper acts as a vessel that seals the juices in, and when you bite, the green bitterness of the pepper, the sweetish tare and the savour of the tsukune all arrive together. Delicious!!
One more barley soda, and out we went. Very satisfied!
Well then — Tochigiya tonight was exactly as weathered as the frontage promised, and rather better than expected on the plate. In a town like Ebisu, which wears such a stylish face, the fact that an old shop holds the line with a red lantern and a room full of old tools is itself worth something. From the crunch of the standards, gizzard and cartilage, through the restrained elegance of the wasabi sasami, to the curveball of the stuffed pepper, the balance of the orthodox and the unexpected was superb. They did look busy the whole time, so I would suggest going when you can drink slowly.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Tochigiya (yakitori / Ebisu Station, Daikanyama Station, Nakameguro Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.2
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
