My friend and I meant to meet only 2 weeks later. But a sudden change in his schedule had us meeting earlier on a Friday evening. However, one should know better that it’s impossible to find a decent place to dine at on Fridays with no prior reservation.

My friend and I were to meet for yakitori at Shirokane Tori-Tama. So we decided to try our luck at walking in. And true enough, they were full house. =( We ended up eating at another place where I would have preferred not to. Every calories count lah. I rather use my calories for good food if I am to have my cheat meal. Keke.

And the thing about me is that I am pretty stubborn. When I set my mind onto something, it’s ‘all the way’. And that’s the same with me and my food. I had to have my yakitori at Shirokane Tori-Tama. o_O Haha. So a dinner was arranged with my girlfriend instead.

Upon arrival, a lady (whom we think is the manager) checked our reservation before directing us to our seats. We had a good up-front view of the chefs, but the worse seats in terms of ventilation. The heat from the grill was escaping through the gap between the 2 pieces of glass panels and hitting us in our faces.

Since we made an early reservation at 6.30pm, the counter was not fully seated yet. Thus, we requested if we could change to another spot. However, the manager said it was impossible as the other seats were reserved. We later got to realise that those seats were reserved for their regulars.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), we ordered:-

1) Tsukune, $5 (above) – Chicken ball. A must try. These were so good! Tender and juicy. My girlfriend and I ordered seconds for this.

2) Kanmuri, $4 (above) – Cockscomb.

3) Hatsu, $3.50 (above) – Heart.

4) Otafuku, $4 (above) – Along the neck meat.

5) Sasami no mitsubamaki, $3.50 (above) – Chicken fillet roll with mitsuba.

6) Sori-resu, $5 (above) – Special thigh.

7) Raclettecheese no inariyaki, $5 (above) – Skintofu with cheese.

8) Tebamoto, $5 (above) – Drum stick.

9) Ginkawa, $4 (above) – Edge of the gizzard.

10) Engawa, $3.50 (above) – Midriff.

11) Emon, $5 (above) – Breast meat.

12) Gatsu, $3.50 (above) – Stomach.

13) Azuki, $3.50 (above) – Spleen.

14) Aotou, $5 (above) – Small sweet green pepper.

15) Shiitake mushroom, $6.50 (above)

16) Chamame no sobatsuyuni, $8 (above) – Chamame dipped in sobatsuyu. This was recommended by the staff when we couldn’t decide on which salad to try. And this was surprisingly good. A must try.

17) Mizuna salad, $12 (above) – Another salad which was recommended by the staff. This looked pretty plain when served, but was surprisingly addictive.

18) Tofu salad, $11 (above)

We were really happy with the food. I can be pretty forgetful (oh yes, I sometimes say I have ‘goldfish memory’), but I don’t think I’ve seen a menu where one can have almost every part of the chicken.

However, service wise, we were put off by the manager. There was a big difference in her attitude to non-regulars and regulars. I am not sure what’s the normal ordering style for yakitori, but I like to break up my order. No, not to the extent of ordering only 2 sticks at every one time. If I come with a friend, we can typically eat around 15 sticks, with 2 to 3 side dishes like salads, etc. And instead of ordering all 15 sticks at one shot, I would order say, 7 sticks first, followed by our next 5, and then the last few sticks according to how hungry, full or greedy we were. When we were giving our orders for the 3rd time, the manager hostilely said, “Next time, give your orders all at one shot.” And that baffled me cause the Japanese on our right and her regulars on our left were doing what we were too; Splitting up their orders. And the thing about yakitori, one wouldn’t want to order too many sticks at one shot and have them go cold on the plate. These skewered meats are meant to be eaten when they are hot, off the grill!

Will I recommend Shirokane Tori-Tama? Frankly, I am on the fence on this. Nice ambience, good albeit expensive food, but horrible service. Though to be very fair, it was just that particular manager. The rest were pretty okie.