10 days in Japan - 10/29/2022 to 11/7/2022

Day 2- Dinner at Yakitori Ogawa -10/30/22

Yakitori is listed under the Michelin Bib Gourmand meaning that you get great food at reasonable prices.  Yakitori Ogawa opened in summer 2013 and is located in the heart of Arakicho, a small but long-established nightlife center just to the west of Yotsuya and only a few stops away from Shinjuku station.  

 Reservation is a must as the restaurant is really small with about 10 seats, and I believe they have two servings per night.  There are only two people working in the kitchen: Chef/owner Tsubusedo Ogawa and the sous chef.

The neighborhood is characterized by narrow and quiet streets with twist and turns and small bars and restaurants along the way.

We were 15 minutes early and we were asked to wait outside as there are no room inside to wait.

The entrance of the restaurant.

It is 8:30am and they now have room for us to get in and sit.

The restaurant is really compact with about 10 seats around the counter that look directly onto the open kitchen.

Our table at the counter.

Hoa ordered some Sake and beer to start.

Hot Tea for me

The menu

We went with the Chef's recommendation "Yakitori" course which include a bit of everything:  appetizers, Chicken sashimi, salad, a bunch of skewers and finishing with a Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard).  

Due to Covid they have partition in between to create a bit of privacy.

Starter: boiled peanuts and edamame beans, homemade chicken head cheese pate, and potato soup.

The chicken head cheese pate was really delicious and so is the potato soup.

We ate everything on our plate.

Fresh wasabi is grated for our sashimi course.

Chef is preparing our sashimi course

Chicken sashimi course: raw chicken heart, raw chicken dark meat, and lightly grilled chicken breast with skin on.

Chef Ogawa uses predominantly Amagi Shamo form Shizuoko, a special chicken breed with dark features and traditionally used for cockfights. 

The chicken are kept in a free-range from in Izu Peninsula and its meat is said to be extra firm and succulent.

This is my first time having raw chicken meat.  I was told it is safe to eat raw chicken and to our surprised the meat was tender, juicy, nice texture, and very tasty.

It was served with 3 type of sauce to dip in: soy sauce, lemon juice, and salt.

It was a bit scary to eat raw chicken but we are so glad we give it try.

Next,  a plate of perfectly toasted rye and raisin bread  was served with a cube of chicken liver mousse.

The chicken mousse was rich and very smooth and delicious with the sweetness of the bread.

Now the skewers are coming and they are all perfectly grilled. 

Grilled Ginkgo nut has a really nice texture. They have a soft and squishy texture and tasted a bit like chestnut.

While eating you can watch chef Ogawa grilling skewers of premium poultry slowly and carefully tended over glowing charcoal.

Tsukune, grilled mince thigh

Sasami (white meat) skewer.  Hoa tried another sake and really liked this one at lot more than the first one.

Mixed Salad.

Chicken with scallions skewer.

Platting in the kitchen...

Grilled tomatoes skewers.  They were so sweet and delicious.

Moving on to white wine: Clos De Vougeot grand cru 2008.

Yakitore Ogawa have a decent selection of French wine.

Chicken skewer. 

And ending the meal with Chawanmushi and frozen chicken liver pate that tasted like foie gras and melted against the hot egg custard.  The chicken liver added a lot of richness and umami to the dish.

We had an excellent meal at Yakitori Ogawa and it is highly recommended if you are going to Tokyo.  The surprised dish was Chicken sashimi (all raw) and it definitely will not fly in the U.S.  However, we were brave enough to eat it raw and we are glad we did.  It was surprising delicious and to me the raw dark meat tasted like raw tuna.  Overall the food was very interesting considering that the main ingredient is chicken and you can tell they used high end ingredients. Excellent ambiance and the chef and sous chef were very gracious to us.

 Yakitori Ogawa,

1/F Wind Arakicho, 9-1 Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

NEXT....Day 3-Yokohama