Kushiwakamaru, Nakameguro 串若丸、中目黒

This evening, we met with our Izakaya friends, Tobias and Dave and their wives. We went to a Yakitori place called "Kushiwakamaru" 串若丸 in Nakameguro 中目黒. Since we were a party of six, finding an authentic Izakaya which could accommodate such a large group was not easy and this place was a perfect choice.

We arrived around 7pm (the place opens at 5pm), it was full so we waited in queue (sitting on the row of chairs provided outside for that purpose as shown in the picture below) for 15 minutes or so before being seated at a table.

 

It was a noisy, smoky, perfectly authentic yakitori-ya 焼き鳥屋. It would have been fun to sit at the counter but being such a large group we were glad to settle in at the corner table provided. I have to say yakitoris are fun but even more fun when they are enjoyed with good friends.  We had such a great time! With all the conversation, and laughter, sociability took center stage and I forgot to take pictures. I only took one food picture and that was after we had eaten most of the food (I am not as disciplined as many other food bloggers).

They served an interesting otoshi appetizer  "Shirasu-oroshi" しらすおろしwhich was grated daikon topped with "jako"( or "shirasu", dried small bait fish) in sweet vinegar sauce. It was good but the portion was huge and we (my wife and I) could not finish it. Before we started on the yakitori, we had fava beans (soramame ソラマメ), herring roe on kelp (komochi konbu 子持ち昆布), and Kushiwakamaru salad. We ordered every species of drink; beer, white wine, and sake to accommodate all preferences at the table (we had sake). It is interesting that this Yakitori-ya had wine.



Tobias and Dave ordered so many interesting and delicious yakitori, I cannot recall them all. I remember chicken tenderloin with pesto, Hokkaido potato with butter, pork belly wrapped wedges of tomato, small Japanese green pepper (piiman ピーマン) stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. The number of skewers in the large cup in the picture above, indicate that we did not leave hungry. Fully fed and watered, we staggered off to the next place for dessert and nightcaps.

Everything was really excellent. Although the place is authentic and old fashioned Yakitori-ya, the menu had some new yakitori items which are not traditional adding to the interest. We would like to add a special "shout out" thanks to Tobias, Dave and company for introducing us to one of their izakaya treasures and sharing it with us in such a good time.