SHINKEI

Great Chicken and Great Atmosphere
[published February 2019]

Walking in the Star Road area near Asagaya Station your eyes will surely stop at the traditional style paper shoji screen windows with the shadow of geisha and red Daruma dolls at the windows. This is Shinkei Asagaya, an izakaya Japanese pub specializing in yakitori chicken skewers and craft beers. A two-floor restaurant with a traditional atmosphere, the first floor is quite small and is a best place if you want to chat with the staff or observe the making of yakitori. Up the narrow stairs brings you to the more traditional style atmosphere of the second floor, showcasing what you observed from the outside; Lanterns and Daruma dolls hang from the ceiling, chopsticks with omikuji fortunes that predict your luck and shoji paper screens with geisha silhouettes bring you to an Edo that once was.

Shinkei’s specialty is indeed their delicious yakitori, with their torikawa (chicken skin) being recommended in particular as it is made following the original style of Hakata, Fukuoka, over a 3 day process. More than 20 types of skewers are available as well as other chicken dishes such as kara-age (Japanese style fried chicken) and chicken wings.

In the cold season, chicken is also the star of Shinkei’s fabulous hot pot, nabe, available starting for 1 portion only. Chicken, vegetables, noodles and mushrooms are boiled in a delicious soup before your eyes (using a table top grill). To finish off the meal in typical Japanese hot pot fashion, you can add noodles or rice.

Great choices of drinks, including several international craft beers, tasty food, friendly staff, and charming Japanese atmosphere definitely make this restaurant one you shouldn’t miss in Asagaya, Tokyo!

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