Sydney's newest yakitori joint has just opened in Little Italy. You read that right. And judging by the dinner crowds midweek, Haberfield locals can't get enough of it.
Yakitori Jin is heaving when we visit on a Wednesday night, crowded with couples, families and Japanese ex-pats.
Dining room inside Yakitori Jin
The decor is just part of the charm, from the traditional noren curtain hanging at the entrance to the long and narrow counter that runs the length of the open kitchen. Tiny tables cling to the edge of one wall. Expect Tokyo levels of personal space here, as well as a rousing "irrashaimase" welcome when you first enter the room.
You're best off dining here in groups of two or three. There's only one large table at the very front that seats six. Solo diners are guaranteed a view of all the action by pulling up a seat at the bar.
Pictorial guide to eating a chicken
The emphasis here is on yakitori or grilled (yaki) chicken (tori). And we're not just talking chicken fillets but every part of the chicken, offal included. A helpful pictorial guide on the wall will help you locate exactly which part of the chicken you're eating.
Complimentary fresh cabbage marinated in shio konbu and sesame oil with hijiki black seaweed
A complimentary salad of fresh
cabbage with hijiki black seaweed is served to all patrons. This isn't just any slapdash salad but a crunch of crisp cabbage layered with deeply satisfying notes of umami.
Head chef Akihito Marui on the yakitori grill
Head chef and co-owner, Osaka-born
Akihito Marui, is the yakitori jin or yakitori man. He's on both yakitori grills all night, ordered directly from Higashiosaka in Japan. It's a mesmerising performance watching him move his fingers across a keyboard of skewers like a concert pianist.
Chicken skin skewers
The menu is broadly broken up into snacks, skewers and larger dishes containing rice and noodles. It's heartening to see there's been no "dumbing down" of the menu - these are dishes you'd find in any yakitori bar in Osaka. Even the
kids menu is a simple offering of yakitori don, a bowl of rice with grilled chicken.
Enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon
Chicken thigh and breast with leek
Skewers include various chicken cuts, chicken innards, vegetables and a smattering of beef, pork and seafoood.
Dipping the chicken and leek skewers into tare yakitori sauce
For each chicken skewer you order, you'll have to decide whether you want it cooked with salt (
shio) or yakitori sauce (
tare). The tare skewers are cooked over charcoal, dunked in a metal vat of syrupy glaze and then returned to the coals for caramelisation.
Dashimaki tamago omelette with grated white radish $14
Start with
dashimaki, a more savoury version of the tamagoyaki seen at sushi bars. The rolled omelette includes dashi stock, making for a wetter omelette. Watching the chef make these to order - an exercise in patience as each layer is cooked and rolled together - is like watching a ballet performance.
Grated mountain yam cooking over charcoal
If you're seeking gastronomic kicks, skip the salmon tataki with foie gras and truffle oil and order the
grated mountain yam instead. This starchy tuber is notorious yet revered for its slimy stickiness, and is a treat not often found outside of Japan.
Tororo yaki $17
Grated mountain yam with cuttlefish legs, egg yolk and mayonnaise
Here it's cooked in a stone pot over charcoal with cuttlefish legs, garnished with a raw quail egg yolk, squiggles of mayonnaise and thin shreds of seaweed. The taste is entirely reminiscent of a takoyaki octopus ball. If you leave it a little before tucking in, you'll hit the jackpot of a crunchy layer at the bottom.
Momo chicken thigh yakitori skewers $5 each
Go hard on the chicken skewers. It's what a yakitori bar is all about. On the side you can nurse a frosty mug of Asahi Super Dry (on tap) or journey your way through a drinks menu of
sakes,
shochu,
whiskies and
umeshu plum wines.
Momo negi shio $6
Chicken thigh with salted garlic sauce and shallot
Chicken thigh skewers are expectedly juicy. The
negi shio version includes salted garlic sauce and a smattering of thinly chopped shallots.
Mune chicken breast skewers with salt $5 each
Sunazuri chicken gizzards $4 each
We go to town on the chicken innards menu.
Chicken gizzards are one of my favourites, exhibiting that much loved bouncy crunch.
Harami chicken outside skirt $4 each
Harami is the outside skirt, a flavoursome cut that comes from the
diaphragm muscle of the chicken.
Kimo chicken livers $4 each
And the
chicken livers are cooked perfectly, like mini parcels of pate on a stick.
Tsunagi chicken arteries with yakitori sauce $4 each
While
chicken arteries might sound intimidating at first, just do it. It's delicious.
Tsunagi chicken arteries with salt $4 each
Try it with yakitori sauce
and salt for double the fun.
Chicken skin on the charcoal grill
They'd run out of
chicken butts (tails) by the time we ordered, but there was plenty of
chicken skin to go around.
Kawa chicken skin skewers $5 each
Squeeze over a little lemon and relish the supreme fattiness coupled with glorious charred bits on the edges.
Tebasaki grilled chicken wing $5 each
And let's not forget the humble
chicken wing. Sure you could order fried chicken (karaage) but the smokiness imparted to a charcoal grilled chicken wing is truly something else.
Asparagus wrapped in bacon on the grill alongside skewers of quail eggs
Fat loves charcoal which is why these
asparagus spears wrapped up in
blankets of bacon look so snug.
Flames licking the skewers on the charcoal barbecue
Asparagus and pork $7
That fresh snap of asparagus coupled with rendered bacon is worth the price tag.
Wagyu beef (9+) kushiyaki $10
The
wagyu beef skewer is at the baller end of town too, but each mouthful is a guaranteed 9+ grade of juicy marbling.
Grilled okra $4
Vegetable skewers include the humble toasting of bright green
okra over coals...
Grilled eggplant $4
and half moons of
eggplant anointed with miso.
Shiitake mushroom with chicken filling $7 each
The
shiitake mushroom skewers are another highlight, each mushroom cap stuffed with seasoned chicken mince.
Adding a glaze to onigiri rice balls
Onigiri rice balls are a lunchtime staple in Japan but chuck one on the charcoal barbie and you've got yourself a whole new level of tastiness.
Yaki onigiri grilled rice ball with rich chicken soup and meatballs $11
The
yaki onigiri grilled rice ball isn't as smoky as others I've had elsewhere but there's an impressive level of golden brown toastiness to the surface. It's a little on the dry side too but that may be because it's served with a housemade chicken soup dotted with floating mini meatballs.
Tsukune meat ball with soft boiled egg $8.50
And the
tsukune is a must-order. The seasoned chicken meat ball comes with a soft boiled egg. Burst the yolk and dunk your skewer into that buttery burst of sunshine.
Blowtorching cheese on tsukune meat balls
Want to level up? Get the
tsukune meat ball with cheese.
If you get a seat in front of the yakitori grill like I did, you can watch Chef Marui wage a ferocious battle against fast dripping slices of melting cheese.
Tsukune meat ball with cheese $8.50
Sweet grilled chicken mince encased in molten cheese is as deliriously good as it sounds. A puddle of teriyaki sauce at the bottom will have you relishing that push-pull territory of sweet and savoury.
A little slice of Osaka in Sydney's inner west? No wonder inner westies have embraced it with fervour.
Opening hours
Lunch Saturday and Sunday 12pm-2.30pm (yakitori not available)
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5pm-10pm, Sunday 5pm-9.30pm
Booking by SMS is preferred
Dinner is in two sittings: 5pm-7pm or 7.15pm-9.15pm
Fully licensed. BYO wine only.
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