On the Menu | Why Hong Kong might be the best place in the world for Japanese yakitori right now
Does the mix of Japanese yakitori masters and Cantonese chicken, like at Yoshiteru Ikegawa’s new restaurant Torikaze, set Hong Kong apart?
There is something very satisfying about eating things on sticks – everything from the candyfloss I ate in my youth to lurid yellow curry fishballs I enjoy now.
It is also one of my favourite restaurant formats in Japan. Whether it is a kushiyaki or a yakitori joint, the absence of cutlery and the almost primal act of tearing food off a skewer make it impossible for it to feel anything but convivial – no matter how pricey or highly ranked the restaurant may be.
I love a good yakitori restaurant, sitting at the bar and being fed hot-off-the-grill selections, quietly marinating in the soundtrack of fat sizzling on charcoal and the clinks of ice-cold beer glasses.
It is a vibe that resonates with chef Yoshiteru Ikegawa, the founder of Torishiki in Shinagawa, Tokyo, one of Japan’s most difficult-to-book yakitori restaurants.
“As a child, I remember the smell of smoke from small neighbourhood stalls in Tokyo,” Ikegawa says of his early inspirations. “It wasn’t glamorous, but it had honesty. I watched how the chef moved, never wasting motion, never rushing. That discipline, the quiet precision of fire, stayed with me.”