A note on the words: otoshi is a small appetizer brought to your table and added to the bill — it is not a scam, it is the cover charge at a Japanese pub. Nagaimo is a mild, crunchy Japanese mountain yam, and ginnan are ginkgo nuts, roasted in the shell and cracked open at the table. Bonjiri is the chicken tail, tontoro the fatty cut from around a pig’s neck, and gyoza are pan-fried dumplings.
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Toridori Sakaba on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
So, Hangover Meshi. This time, Ueno — and from midday, over to “Toridori Sakaba” near Naka-okachimachi. At a glance it has the air of an izakaya you could find anywhere, but I happened to peek in and it was empty, so clearly it was fate! Inside, the seats felt more generously spaced than I expected, which was good! Maybe because they let us use the big table in the middle.
Chicken meatball! For a place like this, the otoshi was a bit tastier than I expected.
Pickled nagaimo! That crisp bite and the slippery texture are just right, aren’t they. Quietly the sort of dish I want to order whenever it is on the menu.
And then ginnan. Maybe because the season was slightly off, the aroma was not all that strong. Still, with ginnan there is that business of using your hands to crack them open and eat them, and that little routine is rather nice. If anything it lets you concentrate on the conversation, ha.
Bonjiri, tontoro, quail egg and a wiener. And what are the other two!?
We split them between everybody, so I am not entirely sure.
They are a little on the small side, but at 100 yen a skewer the price and size land in a nice place. Hot and straight off the grill, they are unmistakably good!
And then, the pork gyoza. Somehow these are gyoza with a really juicy fattiness to them.
For now this feels like the biggest hit in the place! The filling is packed in tight, too — delicious!
Snacks aside, I wonder how much beer and highball we ended up drinking in the end… I have a feeling it was at least five glasses.
Toridori Sakaba. I think this is less a place you set out to visit and more one you peek into and step inside while you are bar-hopping. But for all that it was tasty, and it was perfect for a quick drink. Why not step in as company for a wander around Ueno?
Toridori Sakaba (Izakaya / Naka-okachimachi Station, Okachimachi Station, Keisei-Ueno Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.0
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
