After leaving the embassy our group of 20 was faced with the difficult decision of where to go for food. How to pick a place that works for a broad group that includes a number of Vegans, Vegetarians and people allergic to seafood.
The area we were in is more offices than shopping and restaurants so there wasn't a lot to choose from. We found a location that had three separate restaurants. One Indian, one Italian sandwiches and one sushi/noodles. It was decided that the group would split up so that everyone could get what they wanted.
I had just eaten an amazing Sushi breakfast I didn't need that again. Indian and Italian were against my principles of only eating Japanese cuisine of some kind. What to do?
Fortunately I realized that two of my group, Rupert Bottenberg and Jeff Ellis had noticed a yakitori (grilled meat on sticks) restaurant on the 2nd floor of the adjoining building and had headed over to check it out. This made my decision pretty easy. I caught up to them just as they were sitting down.
This particular yakitori restaurant specialized in grilled chicken parts and was clearly popular with Japanese workers out for an evening after a long day at the office as several tables were full of these groups.
An amuse bouche was offered. A raw egg in one little bowl and some chopped octopus with wasabi in another little bowl. We didn't know if what we were doing was right but we added the octopus mix to the egg and then drank the mixture. Pretty good texture and taste although I wouldn't recommend this to everyone.
Jeff had taught English in Japan and was pretty good in Japanese so we were able to communicate with the waiter and place out order. We had ordered some chicken yakitori at the Izakaya on our first night and what they had provided was both dodgy looking and dodgy tasting. Tonight would be a definite improvement.
We ordered a number of different kinds of yakitori including, mushrooms, minced chicken with Green onions, chicken wings and a Chef's Choice which would include 5 skewers selected by the chef. We knew that the choice of the chef would lean towards some of the less popular parts of the chicken but we decided to take our chances.
The charcoal grilled skewers began arriving to great appreciation from our table. The charcoal had perfectly flavored the chicken and the unusual textures of some of the odder skewers like Chicken hearts, livers and backs made the meal even more interesting.
The food was further improved by the addition of some good Japanese beers.
I think we were definitely the happiest of the four restaurant groups
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