A stone’s throw from the busy and world-famous Shibuya crossing, Toritake is a perfect place for a lunch break. Their speciality? Yakitori !
Yakitori is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which meat is skewered and grilled on charcoal fire. Fun fact, yakitori in Japanese means ‘burned chicken’.
From the outside you wouldn’t even notice Toritake. It is in a quiet street right off Shibuya train station, but don’t be deceived by the small door. Once inside you will realise that you are in one popular place! The restaurant is usually packed! You may need to wait for a table but rest assured that it will worth it. When we visited the place there was only one other tourist couple, every one else was Japanese!
It is good to note that the waiters do not speak English but they do have an English menu and a little bit of pointing and smiling should do the trick!
Once you ordered, you will be given a warm wet towel to wash your hand (common practice in all restaurants in Japan) and you will be served a glass of green tea (once again applicable in almost all restaurants we visited in Japan).
We both went for the chicken menu, I ordered the 3-skewers option, Andrew went for 5 or 6. The chicken is served with a side salad, pickled vegetables, rice and a miso soup. A delicious and filling lunch to keep you going all afternoon.
It is also good to know that Toritake is ridiculously good value for money! It was one of our cheapest meal, yet it was delicious and the quantities were very generous! If chicken isn’t your thing they do other type of meat and yakitori fish. Look no further if you are having lunch in Shibuya, Toritake is the place you want to try!
Claire Imaginarium 
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