Kariteimo

One diner said the fried-chicken set meal at lunch was far more generous than expected for 660 yen, and came with two small side dishes. It’s a hearty choice when you want a filling meal in one go, and diners have also mentioned ordering set meals in the evening. The menu describes the fried chicken as chicken thigh marinated in a red-wine-based sauce with garlic, ginger, onion and grated apple. You can make a meal of the set, or order the fried chicken on its own to go with a drink. That flexibility is part of the appeal of using an izakaya for dinner.

Choosing a hot pot by its flavour is part of the fun. Ushi Nabe simmers beef and vegetables such as bean sprouts in a house-made sauce. Buta Nabe layers pork with Chinese cabbage and cooks it in flying-fish stock; the fish in the A Japanese? Need finish. keep name. Continue.

The menu also lists a fish hot pot made with flying-fish stock, with the fish varying by day, and a chicken hot pot in rich chicken-paitan broth. Buta Nabe comes with ponzu or sesame sauce to choose from. Extra ingredients include meat and vegetables, as well as udon, Chinese noodles and a rice-porridge set.

To start with a small plate, try the fried gizzard: it’s served with nanban vinegar, plenty of green onion and a dab of mustard on the plate, adding a little bite to its sweet-and-sour flavour. For a final dish, there’s a charcoal-grilled yakitori rice bowl topped with thigh, seseri (chicken neck) and harami (skirt), or ochazuke—rice in tea broth—with a choice of nori, pickled plum or salmon.