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Chicken on a stick (Yakitori, 焼き鳥) in Jinbocho (神保町) Part 2.

Continued from my earlier post about Bon-chan,

The yakitori itself was also good, as expected. It might not have been the best that I have ever had, but it was well-seasoned and each skewer was skillfully grilled and beautifully plated.


We started off with the negima (ねぎま), chicken thigh meat with Japanese long onion between the pieces of meat, and proceeded to have liver, neck meat, heart, gizzard, ginko nuts, cartilage, cartilage and meat meatballs (tsukune, つくね).
We also had bacon-wrapped cherry tomatoes, and shishitou(ししとう), a small type of green pepper.

When you order at a yakitori place, you generally have the option to get each skewer seasoned with salt(shio, 塩) or with a sweet sauce (tare, タレ), although some places offer more flavours.
Often you can also find additional seasonings in a small tray on your table, usually some kind of spicy seasoning, some soy sauce and other kinds of spices which you can dip your yakitori in.  Personally, I like to go with salt for just about everything- it brings out the original flavour of the ingredients, while the sauce masks some tastes to a certain degree (and so it is a popular seasoning for liver and tsukune). 

I can't go into every dish in detail, but the most well done were the ねぎま, heart and bacon-wrapped cherry tomatoes. The ねぎま was overflowing with juices that was balanced with the fresh flavour of the green onion. The hearts were deep and smoky while the tomatoes were sweeter that expected, offsetting the saltiness of the bacon. My least favorite was probably either the liver or cartilage, which I usually enjoy. My palate told me that they could have been that much nicer if they had been seared a tiny bit, but they were both quite tasty as they were.

Overall, the highlight of the meal was probably the tataki, for its freshness, taste and rarity.
My impression of Bon-chan was ... let's say a 83 out of 100. The ambiance was nice, the location was very convenient and the service was polite and efficient if not overly engaging.  The food was very good but some items were better than others, leading me to think that I should make another trip down there before I pass a final judgment. The prices were reasonable, 12000 yen for 4 diners, including a couple of beers for yours truly.

Given the size and overall atmosphere of the restaurant, Bon-chan is a probably place suited for having a casual date, or dinner with a small group of people. If you are ever in the area and need your yakitori fix, I definitely recommend it!

Hopefully I will have some real pics up soon!

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