5 editor-picked yakitori restaurants across 2 cities.
A guide to yakitori restaurants worth a trip, by city. We list operators, signature dishes, and the rooms locals book first.
A Susukino yakitori counter working Hokkaido jidori chicken over white binchotan. Skewer-by-skewer omakase and a sake list weighted to Hokkaido breweries.
Signature: Bincho-charcoal skewers, Tsukune, Hokkaido chicken neck
Order: Tsukune meatball with quail-egg yolk and a thigh-skin (kawa) finisher.
Tip: Counter only; book a week ahead. Sake list weighted to Hokkaido breweries like Otokoyama.
A Susukino yakitori counter working Hokkaido jidori chicken over white binchotan. Skewer-by-skewer omakase and a sake list weighted to Hokkaido breweries.
Signature: Bincho-charcoal skewers, Tsukune, Hokkaido chicken neck
Order: Tsukune meatball with quail-egg yolk and a thigh-skin (kawa) finisher.
Tip: Counter only; book a week ahead. Hokkaido-only sake list, ask for Otokoyama or Kunimare.
A Hosui-Susukino room pairing yakitori and Hokkaido crab in one menu. The three-crab platter lands alongside jidori-chicken skewers at the counter.
Signature: Three-crab platter, Yakitori skewers, Crab nabe
Order: Three-crab platter with a six-skewer yakitori set.
Tip: Reserve via Tabelog; counter seats look across into the open grill.
Toshihiro Wada's Bird Land in Tokyo Ginza grills Ibaraki shamo over binchotan, the basement that invented elevated yakitori. One Michelin star.
Signature: Shamo chicken liver pate, Tsukune meatball, Oyakodon rice closer
Order: The omakase course closing with the oyakodon rice and silken liver pate as the opener.
Tip: Closed Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. Reservation by phone only, six weeks out.
More cities are in research. Want yakitori covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.