Akiyoshi is a yakitori restaurant chain with restaurants all over Japan. With its 55 year history, the business is well known for its commitment in serving good and tasty food to its customers. Definitely worth paying a visit if you are in Japan and you like yakitori. The photos featured in this article were taken at an Akiyoshi restaurant in Yokohama.
For those who have never tried yakitori before, it literally means 'grilled bird'. Just imagine slices of delicious skewered chicken, grilled over charcoal, and then served to you piping hot, straight off the grill. Delicious!
I was lucky enough to sit at the counter where I could see all the action that was currently going on in the kitchen. If you are visiting Japan for the first time and you are going out for dinner, this would be the best place to sit. It is truly fascinating.
A polite waitress arrives smiling and asks you what would you like to drink. Customers can choose between a great variety of beverages, alcoholic or not. Beer and sake are two favorites. Hot off the coals, the yakitori is served shortly after you have ordered it. Negima (chicken leg) and sasami (chicken breast) are only a couple of the many options that the customer has at Akiyoshi.
What I would also highly recommend is the grilled green peppers (piiman) and the grilled shiitake mushrooms. The peppers were served with miso, which gave each bite the perfect amount of saltiness. As for the shiitake mushrooms, they were served with spicy mustard. As you can see in one of my photos, I ordered yakitori with rice. That was an extra option that you can have at Akiyoshi.
Even though the staff can’t speak much English, they are able to provide customers with English menus that are a great help for those who don’t speak Japanese.
This Akiyoshi in Yokohama is situated only five minutes away from JR Kannai Station on the Keihin Tohoku Line also called the Negishi Line. The station is also served by some Yokohama Line trains and the Yokohama Subway Blue Line.
