Yakitori Izakaya (Minato-ku, Osaka, Japan)

After a full day at Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan on our way back to Osakako Station while walking we saw this Yakitori place just near the platform entrance, we were thinking whether to have our dinner here or grab something near to where we stayed in Central Osaka but after looking at what’s inside and the cold weather outside we decided to stay here for a while and have some drinks and yakitori just to pass some time.

This place is unlike other Yakitori bars as it is quite big in comparison, usually Yakitori places in Japan will cater for around 10 to 12 people but this one can cater 3 or 4 times the number of people and they have proper tables and chair for you to sit on not just a bar stool on a bar tables.

They have plenty of options for yakitoris/kushiyaki from usual chicken parts, pork and beef down to the unusual bits like chicken offal (heart, neck, gizzard, cartilage, skin and liver). Apart from that they also serve other food items

like different type of donburis, usual ramen flavours, salad, tempura, karaage, desserts and much more

We sat down on one of the tables and it was quite private as each table is enclosed with tatami style walls on both sides, I find this nice as you can enjoy your own privacy in such a crowded place like Japan. We took some time to think what to have but since we are in a Yakitori place this is what we mostly had.

So we grabbed several servings of chicken thigh meat yakitori (¥96.00) which goes really well with Kirin, such a deadly combination as you will not notice how much you had of each while enjoying them.

We also tried some offal like the Yakitori Hatsu (¥172 .00) but we took it in moderation just to be on the safe side, my third world country immune system may have weakened after living for more than 10 years in a clean country like New Zealand.

While the beers are filling us quickly we suddenly thought of having some good lining to our stomachs so we don’t get drunk easily hence we ordered some Steamed Chicken Avocado Salad (‎¥410.00)

and some rice like the Yakotori Don (‎¥486.00) which was quite a mistake since we are already having some yakitoris, it must be the alcohol kicking in.

also some Chicken Kamameshi Rice (‎¥486.00) which I basically I have no idea on what that was during that time. When it was served, it was on a cast iron bowl and I thought it was a soup after I opened it.

The waitress told me not to open just by using actions as they don’t speak good English here. I did not first understand it and still opened the lid and again she did warn me. Few minutes later the small iron bowl started to boil then I started to realize it was a raw rice that was meant to be cooked on table top.

It was a long wait since rice cooks for roughly 15 minutes, add to that the cooling time I have to wait for 20 minutes at least to have it ready. This was a first to me, quite an interesting way to serve a rice dish.

A couple of hours later, several yakitoris and beer we are all sorted, we had a good night a perfect way to end a full day on the Aquarium and its surrounding place. We love the feel of the place, it’s not too crowded, it was clean and most importantly the food was delicious.

Yakitori Izakaya
Address: 〒552-0021 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Minato-ku, Chikkō, 4 Chome−1