This was the start of another trade show in New York. One of the only reasons I enjoy coming to New York is for the food. The quality and diversity of food in New York in unparalleled anywhere in the US. This was only the second time dining at
Yakitori Totto and I have yet to be disappointed, a bit frustrated...perhaps. Due to the limited seating and popularity of
Yakitori Totto, you're most likely going to have to wait a little while to get seated. I'm not the most patient person, especially when it comes to waiting in line, but I some how manage to endure the arduous wait ^_^ The food here is definitely worth the wait.
My love affair with
yakitori all started when I lived in Japan for a short time Years ago. Ever since that time, I've been aimlessly wandering for some good
yakitori and luckily we found this place a couple of years ago. The first time we dined here, we met up with my cousin and her husband who live in the Washington D.C area but fly up to spend their weekends in New York (I know...rich people, makes me sick ^_^ ) , but luckily she is fluent in Japanese and was able to read the small wooden planks that adorn any
yakitori joint. She saw a sign that stated that there were a few items that were special and very limited. Naturally.... we snatched the remaining items up. My apologies if you were one the diners that evening and you were not able to order some of the items. The one that stood out the most was the
Bonchiri (chicken tail). Yeah, you read it right and I wrote it right.... Chicken Tail. It was simply amazing. Keeps me wanting to come back!
Zucchini Tempura
We actually saw the table next us eating this dish and so we just had to order it. WOWWW!!!!! The zucchini
tempura actually did not have your typical batter, instead it had these little fried
mochi balls (rice cake) which was served as the outer crust. The zucchini was absolutely delicious and unlike any other
tempura I've ever had. And I can't forget the Okinawan sea salt which accompanied the
tempura. That too was mind blowing good. We actually saved the remaining salt to eat with other dishes that came out later. That's how good the salt was. In this dish, I might have found my new favorite dish at
Yakitori Totto.
Enoki Wrapped Bacon
I thought this was a very clever way to utilize
enoki mushrooms. The whole bunch of
enoki mushrooms are gathered up and then wrapped in bacon. I don't particularly care for
enoki, but when you add bacon to it...that's another story.
Fried Tofu
I would have to say this dish was a little of let down. Seemingly everything that is fried usually tastes really good. I've had deep fried tofu plenty of times and it usually is pretty good. Not to say that
Yakitori Totto's version tasted bad, it is definitely serviceable, but it just lacked that special something.
Gyoza
Typically I don't order
gyoza at restaurants because there is no comparison to my mom's
gyoza. It's like comparing apples to oranges. I'll have to post my mom's
gyoza soon! But the
gyoza here was actually one of the better
gyoza that I have ever had at a restaurant. Most restaurants have a tendency to skimp on the meat and typically resemble a vegetarian
gyoza.
Yakitori Totto had a perfect balance between the portion of meat and vegetables and was flavored very nicely.
Jidori Karaage
I couldn't help but chuckle when I heard a description of
Jidori chicken (Japanese free range chicken) as being the Kobe Beef of chicken. It's like
Kurobuta (black pork) is commonly referred to as the Kobe Beef of pork. What is the fascination of having to come up with fancy analogies for food. I have to admit though...I do prefer all of the so called "Kobe" versions of meats. So to say that I was excited to eat the
Jidori Karaage, was an understatement. One of my favorite foods happen to be
karaage so when I saw this on the menu I was thoroughly excited. Unfortunately I was let down. It lacked the flavoring of your typical
karaage. The chicken itself was juicy and succulent but lacked seasoning. :(
Yaki Nasu Miso Denkaku
The
Yaki Nasu Miso Denkaku is a grilled eggplant served with a
miso paste. The flavoring of this particular dish was quite nice. I personally found that there was too much
miso paste. I found it a bit overpowering and the flavor of the
nasubi (eggplant) was lost.
Totto Tokusei Morioka Stlye Reimen
This was another "special" item that is served at
Yakitori Totto. The waitress informed us that they only serve 5 servings of this dish a night. That alone made this very enticing and intriguing. Luckily we went there when they opened and we were able to secure one of these dishes.
Reimen is similar to the more famous
ramen, but it is cold noodles. The
Morioka style
reimen is served with
kimchee (Korean seasoned vegetables), boiled egg, apples, chicken, and cucumber. I don't care for
kimchee, but I had to at least sample this dish because it was so limited.
Bonchiri
This is another one of the limited items at
Yakitori Totto. The
bonchiri (chicken tails) is one the main reasons I love this place! This item seems like it should be on some episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. I never knew that chickens have tails let alone that they are edible. Leave it to us Japanese....we eat every damn part of the chicken and everything in the sea. I know it sounds gross, but the chicken tail is really tasty. They are very fatty and juicy. When you bite into them you get a nice pop. An explosion of flavor and juiciness. The flavor is almost like eating chicken skin. This is an absolute must!
Kawa
Speaking of chicken skin. Whenever I dine at a
yakitori establishment I always order
kawa (chicken skin). I can't help myself, I love fatty foods that are really bad for me. My motto is that if it taste good than its got to be bad for you. Unfortunately the
kawa here was not executed very good. The skin could have been a little more crispy and the seasoning could have been more flavorful.
Kobe Beef Gyutan
I just recently started to eat beef tongue. I remember as a kid my parents used try to trick me to eat tongue. They always say "oh yes, that's beef" and then I would bite into and instantly know that they had tricked me. But now I am starting to appreciate it. Here's that term again...."Kobe Beef" So when I saw that this was Kobe beef
gyutan (tongue), I knew I had to give it a try. I've kind of grown accustomed to eating
gyutan (tongue) that is thinly sliced so when this came out and it was thick chunks I was taken aback. But nonetheless it was delicious.
Teba
Teba (chicken wings) is another staple that I always order when I go to
yakitori restaurants. To be honest, there was nothing to write home about. The chicken wings were seasoned well and they were nicely cooked. The
teba was ordinary, nothing spectacular.
Pirikara Mune Niku
This dish sounded much better than it actually was. The
Pirikara Mune Niku which is breast meat topped with a spicy sauce was actually too dry for my taste and the spicy sauce was not all that flavorful. Perhaps if the chicken breast was actually marinated in this sauce it might have tasted better, but this dish was just not doing anything for me.
Miso Dare Mune Niku
This was probably my favorite
mune niku dishes (chicken breast) of the night. The flavor of the special
miso sauce was really tasty. I know that breast meat usually tends to get a little dry, but this skewer actually was executed very nicely and was cooked just right.
Tori Negi Don
I love the concept of this dish especially because we were eating this dish at a
yakitori restaurant. This
donburi (rice bowl dish) was served with charbroiled chicken on top of the rice and then a raw egg was cracked on top and then mixed. I love that this dish incorporated the two different stages of the chicken: from egg to chicken. I just wish I took the picture before we mixed it all up :(
Shishito Tsukune
Another dish that I've grown to like recently is
tsukune (chicken meatball). This dish is one that I have never seen before.
Tsukune married with one of my all time favorite peppers; the
shishito pepper. Wow!!! This was fantastic. The balance of flavors between the sweetness of the sauce on the
tsukune with the tanginess/spiciness of the
shishito was wonderful.
Yawaraka Annin Tofu
This dessert was a creamy tofu apricot pudding. Sounded much more intriguing than it actually was. If you're into desserts that are Very light in flavor, this is the dessert for you.
Mochi Ice Cream
Well we were a little skeptical of this dessert when we saw it on the menu. We were thinking that
the Mochi Ice Cream was going to be like the ones you can go out and buy at the supermarket, but when our waitress informed us that they make there own
mochi (rice cakes) we were all over it like white on rice. Well...like white on
mochi. The
mochi was abosolutely delectable and delicate. There was no doubt the
mochi was freshly made and the
kinako powder (soybean powder) on top of the
mochi ice cream was excellent. Hands down the BEST
mochi ice cream EVER!!!!!
Yakitori Totto251 West 55nd Street 2nd Floor
New York, NY. 10019
212-245-4555
At last...Our last night in New York. I have to say that for the most part we were very lucky in all aspects of this trip, but I'm still glad that this was the last night. Yet another restaurant that was participating in New York's Restaurant Week. This whole trip was about eating at new places and this particular night was no exception. Located next to Rockefeller Center, AJ Maxwell's was a new steakhouse for all of us. This time we decided to forgo our usual stop at Sparks Steakhouse and we stuck with our plan of trying new restaurants. To be honest....the deal was unbeatable. $35 for soup or salad, New York Strip, and dessert. If it wasn't for this deal I would have much rather have gone to Sparks or Peter Luger's in a heart beat. While AJ Maxwell's is very good steak house, by no means are they in the same league as other top steak houses in New York.
I started off the evening with the cantaloupe soup. The reason I choose this was two fold. First, the idea of chilled cantaloupe soup sounded refreshing and interesting. Secondly, my other choice would have been salad. And if you know me...I'm anti salad :) I am glad that I did get this soup though. It was very refreshing!
Not much to say here... Just ordinary french fries
What's better than having a New York Strip steak in New York? Lucky me...Although we all ordered the same cut of meat, for some reason my steak actually tasted better than everyone else's steak. The steak was actually pretty good especially for the price :)
Boy.... was this a disappointment! The bread pudding was horrifically dry and in my opinion should not be ordered.
The lemon sorbet was actually one of the highlights of the evening. Despite the blurry picture this dessert was refreshing and crisp.
I just find it kind of cool eating something in the city in which it gets it's name. There's something to be said about eating either a New York Strip steak or a New York Cheesecake in New York. I'd imagine it's the same when you're eating a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich in Philadelphia :) With that being said, the cheese cake was pretty good despite the overall lack luster dinner.
