Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
Serious yakitori, awkward address, worth it.
A dinner-only yakitori counter in Koto City with three consecutive years of Opinionated About Dining recognition and a Tabelog Bronze Award, Torisawa rewards food-focused visitors willing to travel off the central Tokyo circuit. Chef Akira Nakazawa runs a focused, grill-forward kitchen that suits solo diners and couples as much as small groups. Booking is easy relative to Tokyo's most competitive restaurants.
If you have been to Torisawa once, the question on a second visit is not whether the quality holds — it does, as three consecutive years of recognition from Opinionated About Dining (Highly Recommended 2023, #236 in Japan 2024, #255 in 2025) and a Tabelog Bronze Award with a score of 3.87 confirm a kitchen that operates with genuine consistency. The real question is: when do you go, and what does the season change about what lands on the grill? For a food-focused visitor to Tokyo who takes yakitori seriously, Torisawa in Koto City earns a confident booking recommendation.
Torisawa sits in Kameido, a residential pocket of Koto City that most visitors to Tokyo skip entirely. That address is worth noting before you commit: this is not a ten-minute walk from your Shinjuku hotel. Factor in the travel time, because the venue rewards the effort rather than the convenience. The physical setting is compact and intimate in the way that serious yakitori counters tend to be — the format pulls diners close to the grill, which is where the action is. The spatial logic of a yakitori counter means you are watching the skewers in real time, and at Torisawa under chef Akira Nakazawa, that proximity is part of the experience rather than a quirk of the room size.
The case for timing your visit around season is direct in yakitori: Japanese poultry-focused kitchens shift their sourcing and their supporting ingredients as the calendar moves. Spring and autumn tend to bring the most interesting supplementary vegetables and garnishes through the skewers , items that frame the chicken itself differently depending on what is available. Summer evenings at a charcoal counter carry a particular energy, but the heat inside is worth accounting for when you book. The cooler months from October through February are the most comfortable for a full, unhurried progression through a yakitori menu at close range to a working grill. If you are planning a first visit with any flexibility on the calendar, autumn is the most rewarding window.
Hours run from 5:30 pm to 11 pm Monday through Thursday, with a slightly extended close of 11:30 pm on Friday, and from 5 pm on Saturday. The venue is closed Sundays and public holidays. The dinner-only format is standard for yakitori at this level, and there is no lunch service to consider. Saturday's earlier 5 pm opening is worth noting if you want a relaxed pace before the room fills , arriving close to opening gives you the leading counter experience and the most attentive service at what is a small, specialist kitchen.
Booking is rated Easy, which is a genuine advantage over many of Tokyo's recognised dining destinations. You are not competing with a six-week window or a lottery system. That said, showing up without a reservation is a risk on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the OAD and Tabelog recognition means the venue is not obscure to informed diners visiting Japan. Book a few days to a week ahead for a weeknight; give yourself more lead time for a Friday or Saturday.
Price range data is not confirmed in our records, but the Tabelog context and the yakitori format at this recognition level place Torisawa in the mid-to-upper range for the category , meaningfully more than a neighbourhood yakitori-ya, comfortably less than a Michelin three-star kaiseki progression. If budget is a hard constraint, check current pricing directly before you go.
Torisawa is part of a strong Tokyo yakitori field that includes BIRD LAND, Yakitori Omino, and Asagaya BIRD LAND. For visitors building a broader Tokyo dining itinerary, our full Tokyo restaurants guide covers the complete range. If you are planning wider across Japan, the yakitori tradition carries to other cities: Ichimatsu in Osaka and Torisaki in Kyoto are strong regional references. For dining at a different register entirely in Tokyo, 124. KAGURAZAKA and Aramaki offer contrasting formats worth considering on a multi-night stay.
Planning a full trip around the meal? Our guides cover Tokyo hotels, Tokyo bars, Tokyo wineries, and Tokyo experiences. For serious diners extending into Japan, HAJIME in Osaka, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, and 6 in Okinawa each represent their cities at a high level.
Torisawa is a dinner-only yakitori specialist in Kameido, Koto City , not a central Tokyo address, so build in travel time. Chef Akira Nakazawa runs a focused kitchen with three years of Opinionated About Dining recognition and a Tabelog Bronze Award. Booking is direct, but arrive knowing that this is a serious yakitori counter, not a casual izakaya. The proximity to the grill is part of the format , embrace it.
Yes, with one caveat: the yakitori counter format is intimate but informal by Tokyo fine-dining standards. If your occasion calls for tablecloths and a lengthy wine list, RyuGin or L'Effervescence will feel more ceremonial. But for a food-obsessed celebration where the craft on the grill is the event, Torisawa's consistent OAD ranking and Tabelog score give it real credibility as a destination meal.
A yakitori counter is one of the leading solo formats in Japanese dining , you are seated close to the action, the progression is natural, and the kitchen interaction is part of the meal. Torisawa suits solo visitors well. A weeknight visit gives you the most relaxed experience; Friday or Saturday alone at the counter works too, but book ahead rather than walk in.
BIRD LAND in Ginza is the most accessible high-profile yakitori option in a central location. Yakitori Omino and Asagaya BIRD LAND are worth considering if you want to stay closer to the city's more navigable neighbourhoods. For a completely different cuisine register, Harutaka delivers precision sushi at a comparable commitment level.
Yakitori is a chicken-forward format by definition, which makes it a poor fit for vegetarians and anyone avoiding poultry. If dietary restrictions are a factor, contact the venue directly before booking , phone is listed on Tabelog as 03-3499-1808 (note: Tabelog data lists a Nishi-Azabu address which may reflect a different location or listing; confirm details when booking). For guests with specific allergies, direct communication before arrival is the right approach at any specialist counter of this type.
Torisawa is dinner-only, open from 5:30 pm on weeknights. There is no lunch service to compare. Saturday's 5 pm opening is the earliest you can arrive, and coming close to opening on any night gives you the most attentive experience before the room is at capacity.
Smart casual is appropriate. Torisawa holds Tabelog Bronze recognition and consistent OAD placement, but yakitori as a format does not carry formal dress expectations in Tokyo. Avoid anything you cannot afford to have take on a little smoke , charcoal grill counters are immersive in the leading way, but your clothes will know you were there.
Booking is rated Easy relative to Tokyo's most competitive restaurants. A few days ahead is sufficient for a weeknight. For Friday or Saturday, aim for a week or more, particularly if you are visiting during peak travel seasons (late March to early May for cherry blossom, October to November for autumn foliage) when demand across Tokyo dining increases broadly. Walk-ins are a risk rather than a reliable strategy.
Torisawa is in Kameido, Koto City — not in any of Tokyo's dining hubs, which means you are making a deliberate trip rather than a convenient one. The payoff is a yakitori counter that has held a spot in Opinionated About Dining's Top Restaurants in Japan for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, and 2025) and a Tabelog Bronze Award with a score of 3.87. Come for dinner — it opens at 5:30 pm Monday through Friday — and give yourself enough time to settle in rather than rushing.
Yes, but manage expectations around atmosphere: this is a yakitori counter in a residential neighbourhood, not a formal celebration venue. What it delivers is precision and consistency, backed by consecutive OAD rankings and a Tabelog Bronze Award — the kind of credential that makes a meal feel intentional rather than accidental. If your group wants white-tablecloth ceremony, look elsewhere; if the occasion calls for a serious, focused meal, Torisawa works.
Yakitori counters are among the better solo dining formats in Tokyo, and Torisawa fits that pattern. A counter seat puts you close to the grill and the process, which is the point. Weekday evenings (Monday through Thursday, 5:30–11 pm) are your best bet for availability and a less pressured pace.
For high-end omakase with a different format, Harutaka and RyuGin are both operating at a higher price point but with broader international recognition. HOMMAGE and L'Effervescence offer French-influenced tasting menus if yakitori is not the format you want. Crony is a more accessible, modern option for a casual but considered meal. None of these are direct yakitori equivalents — Torisawa's OAD ranking means it competes at the top of that specific category.
No dietary restriction information is available in the venue data. Given that yakitori is a poultry-focused, grill-driven format with limited flexibility by nature, it is worth contacting the restaurant directly before booking if you have restrictions. The phone number listed on Tabelog is 03-3499-1808.
Dinner only — Torisawa does not serve lunch. Hours run from 5:30 pm (5 pm Saturdays) through to 11 pm Monday through Friday and 11 pm Saturday. The restaurant is closed Sundays and public holidays.
No dress code is documented for Torisawa. A yakitori counter in a residential Tokyo neighbourhood typically skews casual to neat-casual — nothing about the address or format suggests formal attire is expected or required. Avoid anything you would not want near charcoal smoke.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
