Cochinoman tech, sushi, poker
Although they do have other types of Japanese cuisine, Yakitoria specializes in Yakitori, as the name implies. In case you are not familiar, Yakitori is a Japanese method grilling chicken pieces on a skewer. The term “yaki” means to grill, and “tori” is short for chicken. However, over the years, they have come to grill just about anything using skewers.
So for my first try, I decided to try their 5 piece combo, which comes with soup and salad. Frankly, I didn’t really care for the soup, which was some type of broth. I would have preferred miso soup instead. The salad was acceptable but nothing exciting.
The first picture above is chicken white meat with wasabi. I’ve had this at other places, including Honda Ya, and I know it can be dry. Yakitoria’s version was done very well and tasty.
The chicken dark meat was excellent and I wanted more of it.
The next item was chicken wing and skin, I think. I’m not positive but if you like crunchy stuff, you may like this. As for me, I will pass.
I’ve never had the gizzard before, and it’s certainly different. It’s definitely an acquired taste and I have not acquired it and probably won’t. But I can see how some people would love it because it’s kind of crunchy.
This last item is liver. I’ve had this many times before in Japan and have acquired a taste for it. If you like liver, you will probably like it. To keep it from being too dry, there’s a lot of sauce on it. Maybe a little too much sauce.
This restaurant is tiny and there seems to be a shortage of workers, so the service can be extremely slow. But you can tell that the people working here genuinely want to please the customer with great authentic Yakitori. I have a feeling they are struggling to keep this place open because they are only open at night.
If you are looking for cheap food, this is not the place to come. If you want other Japanese food to go along with Yakitori, I suggest Honda Ya instead. But if you want authentic Yakitori in the West LA area, this is a good pick.
Yakitoria
11301 W. Olympic Blvd. #101, Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 479-5400
