Sun Yakitori: Artisanal Skewers in the Neighbourhood (Osaka Series Part 5/6)

Negima (Grilled Chicken with Leek)

Imagine just having arrived in a foreign country around midnight. It's dark, raining cats and dogs, the signposts are unclear and you have absolutely not the faintest idea of where your hotel is supposed to be despite your best efforts at using Google Maps or your GPS devices.

So you wander around, hoping that by luck you may just stumble upon your hotel and seek grateful shelter from the pouring rain. That's exactly what happened to my group of friends and I after searching for about an hour, but not without discovering Sun Yakitori, which proved to be one of the important highlights and sentimental portion of my trip.

This establishment, owned by a very young boss in his mid twenties, serves up freshly grilled chicken and other delectable goodies from evening to late in the night. I was so in love with this place that I came here almost every alternate night, in a large part due to the fact that it was a literal 50 metres stroll from my hotel. No matter how full I was after a busy day of walking, shopping and eating, I always made it a point to visit this humble little joint.

Tebasaki (Chicken Wing)

Sun Yakitori is located in a neighbourhood where there are a couple of hotels, schools and office buildings in the vicinity, and the place comes to life at night when tired office workers seeking to unwind, couples looking to hang late in the night and the occasional odd group of tourists (i.e. my party) pop by. The food and drinks here are inexpensive and the Chef takes extra care to make sure that everything turns out perfect and just the way he wants it.

Take for example the chicken wing. Such a simple and almost no-brainer item to cook. But here it is grilled till the bone is almost falling off, the exterior totally crispy, and yet the inside still wonderfully moist, juicy and so tender you can just suck the meat off without using your teeth.

Sankaku (Chicken Tail)

Now, being in Japan and dining in a very authentic Yakitori joint with no English menus and non-English speaking staff, my curiosity was piqued when I saw so many items in the menu that are not sold in Yakitori joints in Singapore. One of which is the Sankaku, or chicken tail. In Singapore, people request for this part of the chicken from the hawker when they eat chicken rice. I was so glad I discovered this by taking a leap of faith. The texture is slightly crunchier but still remains tender and juicy. With the grilling process aiding in the Maillard Reaction and just a pinch of salt, this is the perfect bar snack.

Hatsu (Chicken Hearts)

Yakitori joints also offer a variety of innards for the adventurous at heart (pardon the pun) like chicken hearts, liver and the gizzard. The heart is not really one of my favourite innards, but in the hands of the dependable chef here, he won me over with his version. The heart was not as metallic-tasting and unpalatable as the ones I had previously, but it was easier to chew on, and the flavours were not overpowering.

The picture above will elicit different types of responses. This, is chicken sashimi.

"What?!"

Yes, it is safe to eat (at least in Japan), and this was a more memorable experience than the Fugu which could supposedly kill me. Having seen chicken sashimi featured a few times in online videos, I was a little scared but excited at the same time. Seeing the picture of this raw, pink and fresh chicken pieces on the menu, I simply had to get a experience of what it was like to devour anything other than fish, raw.

How is it like?

Much better than expected. Contrary to popular belief, the raw chicken is not chewy and it is totally clean tasting almost like fish itself. There was no foul smell, no funny textures and no funny business at all.

Before you start heading around to random restaurants and start asking for raw chicken however, do note that the chicken must be at its optimal condition (slaughtered and served on the same day) and not all chickens are sashimi grade. This is something I would encourage doing only in Japan.

Bacon Yakitori

Sometimes, certain yakitori restaurants do have certain out-of-the-blue items in their menu, and this is where the thick, grilled bacon skewers come in. Crispy, sinfully savoury and juicy with a dab of wholegrain mustard. Need I say more?

Yakitori (Grilled Chicken)

But the one item which I always ate in my multiple visits and will order again in a heartbeat, is the yakitori. It is funny how sometimes in yakitori joints, it could be the other ingredients like the wagyu, butabara or some other dish that is the star of the show. But the chef here has elevated the grilled chicken skewer here to the highest level possible, and it's as though he has made it a point to tell his customers by his food that :"This is a yakitori joint, so naturally we will make our yakitori the best item on our menu" and rightly so.

This, is the example of the perfect grilled chicken skewer for me. Thick, oblique pieces of fresh chicken, tended to carefully over a slow charcoal fire making sure that all parts are cooked evenly and ensuring that the skin develops a nice char, and finally lightly brushed with homemade tare (sauce). It is so, so tender, bouncy, juicy, crispy and I can't find a word except 'perfect' which could justify the quality of this skewer. It is that good. Really.

Another admirable aspect is that having visited this restaurant a grand total of 7 times in the duration of a 10-day trip, the quality of the food and service was at its peak every, single, time. I feel that consistency is the one factor which separates a good restaurant from an exceptional one. Understandably, when it is a weekend and the service and kitchen teams get slammed with a high volume of customers, quality of the food will inevitably suffer. But this is not the case at Sun Yakitori. Granted, your food may take a little more time to arrive (about 10-15 minutes), but with a glass of whiskey soda and good company at the table, we took our time to chill and relax. When the food did arrive, we were always guaranteed nothing but the best tasting, piping hot, shatteringly crisp, and juices overflowing, chicken skewers.

Having come here so frequently during our trip, it was quite painful to say goodbye to the friendly young chef/owner for graciously taking care of us at his establishment with plenty of food and drinks, and I would definitely return here again should I ever be so lucky to come back to Osaka.

Sun Yakitori
2-6-27 Minami-Senba
Chuo-ku Osaka

Operating Hours:
Monday to Sunday
17:30 - 23:30

How to get there:

The closest station to Sun Yakitori is Shinsaibashi Station on the Osaka Subway. Once you exit the station, make your way to the Hearton Hotel Minami-Senba. The shop is located one block away on a street parallel to the hotel.