Ariel and I went on a street crawl around Shimbashi one night. But first, let me acknowledge how grateful I am to have grandma travel with us, my ever-reliable babysitter (for Migo).
Shimbashi was the district where we were holed up for 5 nights in Tokyo. Shimbashi station is an old train station, surrounded by hole-in-the-walls in its labyrinth of alleyways. I noticed that several of these places are standing-only affairs. Wow. Standing while eating? We gotta try that!
The appetizer that we thought was beans or some such.
We decided to try authentic yakitori this time. We found a yakitori hole-in-the-wall and saw that the ground floor was packed. So we went up to the second floor where we squeezed into a table. Tight and cozy.
“Sumimasen! Beeru kudasai!”, we requested in our pidgin Japanese.
“And a plate of yakitori please”, pointing to the picture on the wall, as there was no English menu. The young waiter pondered and asked if we wanted a “big plate”?
“How many skewers is in a big plate?” (Actually we asked “How many sticks?”)
He answered “18”.
Whoa, that’s plenty! “How about a small plate?”
“6!”, the nice-looking waiter proudly responded.
“Hai! Small plate please!”
It was 8pm and the place was packed with corporate-type Japanese. Their form of winding down was “eating, smoking and drinking”. A few women were present and they all drank beer too. The smell of tobacco is unavoidable in most eating places. So have a little bit of forbearance if you want to mix in with the locals. Ariel and I were determined to experience the local life.
The place was cramped, smoky and filled with conversation.
The two elderly waiters were well dressed with ties and speak no English. The younger waiter was wearing a traditonal yukata garb.
Our yakitori plate consisted of skewered chicken thighs, chicken mince and something that I guessed to be chicken skin seared to crispy perfection. We soaked in the Japanese atmosphere around us. We ate, drank and enjoyed our third date night for this trip. The hubby was happy and his happiness washed over me.
“Well done, wookie, for picking this place”, he said and “Kampai!”
Tha yakitori bar brightly lit from outside
myGloryBox Japanese Takes 