Torikizoku is a Japanese yakitori chain that has even opened a branch in Hongdae, Seoul. The name means something like “chicken nobility,” I suppose. It has been popular for ages, but I somehow never found an occasion to go. To be honest, if you look around there are plenty of places that are cheaper and better than this one. Lately, though, I think a place like this is perfectly fine. Being able to walk in without a reservation, at whatever hour suits you, has come to matter more to me.
A place like this
Torikizoku seems to plant itself mostly on the second floor near a station. I imagine that is a strategy for keeping prices down, and if a place is famous enough people will climb the stairs anyway.
The menu
A tablet, of course.
Drinks
Everything here is a flat 370 yen. That means some items are great value and some are not, but on the whole you can assume you are getting your money’s worth. Just glancing at the list, the Mega Highball and the Mega Lemon Sour are obviously the bargains.
Today’s special menu
You normally check the menu on the tablet, but this one is a seasonal special, so it gets a separate write-up of its own.
Chita highball
When Yamazaki took off, Chita became hard to get hold of for a while as well, and here it is on the menu as a highball. A Chita highball for 370 yen is good value. It did feel a little low in alcohol, though I suspect that is where the trend is going these days.
Cassis orange
The glass comes out enormous, and I suspect that is part of the secret of the chain’s popularity. The taste was so-so.
Liver and momo kizoku yaki
The skewers come out big, too. Japan does have 100-yen skewer places, but the skewers there are on the small side. Here you get two skewers for 370 yen, and they are large enough that the value is not really any worse than at a 100-yen place. It made me wonder how a chain can pull this off. The liver was a bit dry, but the momo kizoku yaki, the thigh skewer, was genuinely delicious. It is essentially negima, chicken alternating with leek, with a proper char and plenty of juice. I would call it the signature item here.
Mune kizoku yaki and sasami
The breast skewer and the tender were just okay.
Cabbage
Free refills, and it is the kind of thing you keep reaching for.
Tebasaki
The chicken wings were decent too.
Mega lemon sour
One glass of this holds so much that you have no need to order another drink.
Tsukune
These chicken meatball skewers are good.
Mochi cheese
This one is genuinely delicious. It is a skewer of rice cake topped with cheese and sprinkled with nori, and the chewy mochi and the rich cheese make a wonderful pair.
Wakadori saikyo-yaki skewer
Yakitori marinated in sweet Kyoto-style miso and then grilled. Delicious.
Yamaimo teppanyaki
Grated mountain yam cooked on a hot iron plate. It is porridge-like, with something of the toasted flavor of scorched rice, and it is good.
Mochi cheese
The mochi cheese was so good that I ordered another one even though I was already stuffed. It is carbs plus fat, so I really should not be eating much of it, but the taste is impossible to resist.
Churros
These were good too, perhaps because they use ice cream made fresh at the dairy farm.
Paitan ramen
The paitan ramen here is light on the creamy chicken-bone character, which actually makes it better.
Overall, the side dishes are all delicious. The yakitori is good, but I never expected the sides to be even better. At any rate, Torikizoku turned out to be a solid chain. Even eating until you burst, it is hard to reach 3,000 yen a head. Next time I should probably concentrate on the momo kizoku yaki and the side dishes.
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