Torikai

Step past the noren on the 1th floor of a building near Kawaguchi Station, and you are met with the buzzy hum of a classic tavern wrapped around a U-shaped counter. With a view straight into the grill station and the savoury smoke rising from it, these counter seats are prime territory for solo drinking or a casual drink shoulder-to-shoulder with friends. A bowl of lightly pickled cabbage arrives as soon as you sit down, the usual prelude before washing down the day with bottled Sapporo Akaboshi, a tangy ponzu sour, or a retro shitamachi baisu sour.

Skewers headline the menu, spanning a generous variety from pork offal to chicken. If you are unsure where to start, the six-skewer platter—seasoned across Alpine rock salt, savory bariki oil glaze, and house miso sauce—offers a well-rounded introduction to the kitchen's style. Well-timed skewers land in steady succession, including juicy tataki tsukune meatballs coated in tare, rich toro joshiro (fatty pork intestine), and pleasantly chewy dokan. In between sticks, orders of clear, deeply savoury shio motsu stew or low-temperature-cooked harami yukhoe keep the drinks flowing smoothly.

After cleansing your palate with vegetable skewers or lightly pickled avocado, the meal winds down comfortably with satisfying yet reasonably priced rice dishes, such as negitoro don or the popular W-egg tamago kake gohan. Because table seating is limited and often fills up early, booking ahead or arriving right at opening is sensible. The tavern is open from 17:00 on weekdays and 15:00 on weekends until late into the night; payments are accepted in cash as well as via PayPay.