Robatayaki had evolved so much since we first tried it in Tokyo a couple of years ago. To me, a traditional robatayaki restaurant is one that mimics the original –a rustic farmhouse restaurant with dining tables/seats surrounding a square hearth with grilling areas and fresh food displays, where orders are made by shouting. One of the more original ones that we have tried was in Tokyo at Inakaya West which we have previously posted. In New York, there’s no true Robata restaurant, but restaurants such Aburiya Kinnosuke which provide menu options from the robata grill.
What makes Aburiya special to me is the fact everything in the restaurant made me feel like I’m back in Tokyo, having a wonderful dinner and drinks at one of the restaurants in Shibuya or Roppongi. The food was incredible. I particularly love the homemade tofu, tsukune (meat balls) and sea cucumber appetizer. The fried organic chicken and sea eel tempura was memorable as well. This is a restaurant where it is difficult as hell to get a table, but once you are seated, you would not be rushed, even though there is a mob of hungry crowd waiting outside.
Japanese Style Fried Organic Chicken
Tofu in bamboo basket
sea cucumber sashimi appetizers - slightly spicy but very refreshing. It's more chewy than the sea cucumbers I am used to eating. Interesting.
Beef grilled on top of Shinjiri Grill - the Meat was marinated in some mixture of miso sauce and it was delicious! I am just amazed that it didn't produce much smoke!
Salmon Collar - we wanted to order yelllowtail collar but it was sold out. The Salmon collar was not too bad.
Robata Grilled Pork Cheek
Tsukune/Grilled Ground Chicken with plain or teriyaki sauce
Assorted veggies - from the left: Japanese Sticky Yam, Konyaku and Gomoku Kinpira.
Buta Kakuni - not the most tender Buta Kakuni we have eaten, but it was delicious.
Earthenware Rice with soup on the side
Mochi with red beans and Annin Tofu - one of the best mochi and annin tofu desserts we have eaten in NYC.
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