TABLEALL

RESERVATIONS

Close
Torishiki main image

Tokyo

Torishiki

鳥しき

Torishiki is an incredibly challenging restaurant to reserve. The chicken skewers are all cooked by a passionate master chef who is driving the yakitori industry in Japan and working to expand its pleasures to the whole world.

Torishiki can be found down a small laneway not far from Meguro Station. A warm paper lantern shows the way to the entrance, where a maple tree and bamboo grass thrive, and a fresh shop curtain assures you that you have come to the right place. Once inside, a U-shaped counter surrounds the all-important charcoal grill, where the chef husband, proprietress wife, and a team of young apprentices call out hearty welcome cries to entering guests.

Yakitori means grilled chicken, and most yakitori restaurants include the word chicken in their name. In the case of Torishiki, it is a combination of chicken with shiki, meaning the four seasons. While some dishes may change seasonally, Chef Ikegawa has not yet changed the interior, feeling that continuity is important at this flagship restaurant in an ever-growing group. High backless stools are lined up from where guests can spy a case holding the ingredients and a simple wooden menu on the wall. The gentle scent of Kyoto Shoeido incense wafts through the air. Join the fun at the counter with a cup of original Hinotori sake from Akita’s Aramasa Brewery, made especially for Torishiki. After brewing in the more typical wooden vats, part of the liquid is stored in wooden barrels, infusing the sake with the mellow nuance of cedar for a wonderful pairing with yakitori. Be sure to check out the superb bottle label.

MORE

CUISINE

A passionate master chef

Ikegawa’s course starts the same way for all and moves from lighter to more decadent flavors, but it ends when each guest lets him know they can only fit two or three more skewers. In this way, guests can have their fill enjoying more typical morsels of chicken alongside some more unusual parts and still have room for the chef’s oyako-don chicken-and-egg bowl. The skewers are generous and belly-filling, but the chef’s mastery is felt in the fact that you never tire of the flavor.

The first skewer is always kashiwa, allowing the chef to demonstrate his grilling skills fully. He asks guests to note the charcoal aroma as they sink their teeth into the chicken thigh meat because the experience is one for all five senses. He uses top-quality Kishu Binchotan charcoals, occasionally breaking them down with a hammer or rousing them with a traditional Japanese fan, captivating diners with his deft movements.

While some skewers are flavored simply with salt, a yakitori restaurant is often judged on the quality of its tare, the sticky, salty-sweet sauce many skewers are brushed with during preparation. Ikegawa inherited his recipe from his master at Toriyoshi. It is relatively light with a clean finish, designed for guests to devour plenty of skewers without feeling weighed down. It sits in a bulbous pot next to the charcoal grill. Other seasonings at the ready, each with their own brushes, are chicken fat, sake, dashi soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, and water. They sit atop the grill to stay warm, trapping in the umami until called on to make each skewer the most delicious and juicy version possible. The grill temperature tops 350°C, searing the surface quickly to lock in the juice and extract umami, and the resulting flavors are dreamy.

The teba chicken wings bring unparalleled satisfaction with crisp skin and a juicy middle, testing the skills of a yakitori chef more than any other part. Despite their large size, you will find yourself returning many times to extract every last piece of flesh. The tsukune skewered ground meat is made in an authentic style from thigh meat with finely chopped cartilage throughout. For the skewers of kawa, Ikegawa uses skin from the chicken’s neck or seseri, a place that gets a big workout, ensuring delicious texture.

Less common chicken parts served here include a chicken’s esophagus, diaphragm, Achilles tendon, inner thigh and groin, and around the knee. The four seasons referenced in the restaurant’s name come through in the seasonal skewered vegetables like okra, new potatoes and corn. Another wonderful dish is deep-fried tofu, lovingly brushed with chicken fat as it cooks on the grill over charcoals to roasted perfection. It is finished with dashi soy sauce, chopped green onions, ginger and daikon radish sprouts. Guests are always floored by the velvety, creamy texture of the chicken liver, a testament to the high quality and freshness of the product.

Then comes the closing dish: oyako-don. A perennial favorite for the Japanese, young and old, it starts with a bowl of rice, topped with a hearty, comforting mixture of cooked chicken and egg. The chef’s key components are chicken soup that he has reduced from chicken bones over eight hours, skin-on chicken thigh and green onions infused with delicious charcoal flavor, and premium eggs. Ikegawa ever so gently heats the eggs so they slip lusciously and easily down guests’ throats.

INGREDIENTS
Date-dori chickens raised in a healthy, stress-free environment are shipped directly to the restaurant from a producer named Takahashi, whom Ikegawa has known for more than 25 years since his training days. The tender, umami-rich flesh has a flavor that guests do not tire of – essential in a meal featuring dish after dish of chicken. In addition to receiving the freshest whole chickens, Ikegawa takes delivery of precious parts, proof of his deep relationship with the poultry farm. The eggs contain 32 times the normal level of vitamin E, and the chef selects seasonally delicious rice, including the Nanatsuboshi varietal from Hokkaido. The indispensable salt component is yakishio roasted salt from Shikoku, which Ikegawa roasts once more just before opening each day for even finer grains. Because it is very dry, roasted salt is ideal for grilling, not dissolving into foods and drawing out their juices, but sitting on the surface for perfect flavor in every bite.

Torishiki cuisine #0
Torishiki cuisine #1

CHEF

Yoshiteru Ikegawa

Yoshiteru Ikegawa was born in Tokyo in 1972. He was enamored with the idea of becoming a yakitori chef in his teens but went to university and joined a staffing agency company after graduation. Over three years, he learned about society’s many norms and rules and gained insight into customer demands and the kinds of stores that appeal to people. He spent his spare time exploring yakitori restaurants around Tokyo and was floored by one experience – that of Nakameguro Toriyoshi. He took a chance and knocked on the door. After seven years of training, in 2007, he opened his very own restaurant, Torishiki, earning accolades and stars that he has held on to since 2011.

From the tenth year of operations, Ikegawa cast his net further, expanding his network with restaurants commandeered by apprentices, starting with Torikado and now including Torikaze, Toriyaki Obana, Toriyoshi, Toritsuki, Aobadai Torisora, Nakameguro Torimachi, and Torioka. He also successfully made his overseas debut with the highly acclaimed Torien in New York City in 2020, followed by a 2023 Shanghai opening of Torikaze and a new restaurant planned for Taipei in 2024.

Ikegawa talks about how it all began with the idea of running a small yakitori bar with his wife. Despite his initiatives in many styles and places, the chef continues to take his place behind the grill at Torishiki, sharing with countless guests his passion for a craft he intends to continue until he is 90.

VISION
Ikegawa is singularly devoted to his work as a yakitori chef, believing each skewer of food is worth a lifetime of pursuit of that mastery. From about the tenth year of running his own business, he has constantly considered how to elevate the status of yakitori. That is why he is expanding his group with a series of restaurants run by his apprentices. Together, they all work to share the value of yakitori with the world. Moving toward 2027 and the 20th anniversary of his restaurant, Ikegawa is planning a renovation, but along with his team, his eye will forever remain on the task of crafting delicious yakitori.

LIVE ACTION

Setting Torishiki apart is its entertainment value. The chef works on his stage—the grill—wielding his skills to maximize guests’ dining pleasure. The challenge is about how well he can stimulate guests’ senses and have them experience the appeal of yakitori and its pairings with sake, as well as the joy of interacting with staff. It all comes down to teamwork among the staff, who join forces each day to create a welcoming space to wow guests with yakitori, hoping to ensure the transmission of that food culture to future generations.

Course

Dinner
Torishiki omakase course
  • The price includes our booking fee of ¥8,000
  • The price includes our booking fee of ¥8,000
¥25,500
¥25,500
Reservation Request

Tokyo

Torishiki

鳥しき

PRICE
¥25,500
~
CHILD
12
& UP
MIN GUESTS
1
PERSON
~
GENRE
Yakitori, Meguro
ADDRESS
1F, 2 Chome-14-12 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa City, Tokyo 141-0021, Japan
OPEN
Dinner: 5PM
CLOSED
Monday, Tuesday and Sunday
URL
NA
PHONE
NA

RESERVATION

  • ×