Sekai no Yamachan – Yakitori Restaurant

A couple of weeks ago I visited one of my favorite Yakitori restaurants, Sekai no Yamachan, this time in Okachimachi (or Ueno, depending on how you see it). Sekai no Yamachan is probably the most famous culinary thing to come out of Nagoya and it was in Nagoya I first tried it a few years ago. Nagoya cuisine is mostly renowned for its use of miso in everything. Sort of like the Koreans and kimchi, Nagoyans like their miso in practically everything! Unlike the miso you’ll find outside of Nagoya, this miso is a thick, spicy, rich, paste which I guess could be an acquired taste but most people will get it quickly. This restaurant is especially famous for its spicy crispy chicken wing plates, tebasaki, if you’re only going to eat tebasaki once in Japan, I think this is the place to do it. When you’re seated you’ll get you chop sticks along with an explanation of how to eat the tebasaki (in my opinion the best part is the pointy end, dry as sand and crispy to perfection), you should end up with just three thin bones! There was also a pamphlet with instructions on simple palm reading – maybe useful to break the ice in conversation?

Yamachan also runs a farm that is open to the public and I think they have a guest house offering farm stay experiences where you can try out rice cultivation by hand and other fun looking stuff, in the town of Nakatsugawa (中津川市) in Aichi prefecture. Every restaurant has a small gift shop where you can buy pretty much the perfect souvenirs for your friends back home. Just writing this blogpost has made me hungry again. Maybe it time to visit Yamachan again tonight?