Howdy all. I’m making my favorite pilgrimage here later this evening to Sekai no Yamachan and I thought if I love this place(wings are the best!), surely you all have some places you enjoy as well. So! Let me at em. What are your faves? They can be chains such as the one I mentioned, or one offs. I travel over an hour just for Yamachans, I flew to Osaka for a weekend food whirlwind. I’m curious to hear what are yours. If you’re crazy enough to think somewhere has better wings than the above, I HAVE to hear about it. Thanks all. Location isn’t super important, but if I’m gonna check it out anytime soon, Kanagawa preferred. But I’ll add them to my list.
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骨付き鳥 一鶴, originated from Kagawa, it’s pretty amazing.
They have a shop in Yokohama [https://www.ikkaku.co.jp/shop-top.html](https://www.ikkaku.co.jp/shop-top.html)
Recently enjoyed ほていちゃん it was pretty easy for an izakaya! Tasty ham Katsu
Goodspoon (a small chain throughout Japan, but has a few restaurants in Yokohama) makes their burrata and mozzarella in store by hand. Get the King’s Bolognese. Also good vibes, fun atmosphere, great drink bar.
If you’re in the Chubu region, head up to Ena in Gifu to a small restaurant called Mimura and get their Misokatsu teishoku. It’s probably my favorite food in all of Japan, and is different from Yabaton’s Misokatsu.
If you’re in Nara, there’s a delicious tebasaki restaurant called Tebasu. Get their geki-kara special wings (don’t worry, they’re Japanese spicy, not foreigner spicy).
Yamachan has good wings and a decent sake selection, but the rest of their food is just bad, like Saizeriya level. Maybe I went on a bad day, or to a bad shop, but I wasn’t impressed with anything other than the wings (which admittedly were pretty damn good).
My favorite wing place is [Arigatou](https://sunmurphy.co.jp/sites/), a small chain in Chiba. The black sauce wings are amazing. They used to do an “eat your age in wings” birthday promo before Corona, so in addition to my semi-monthly wing and sake throwdown, I’d go there every year with my wife and a friend or two and eat 40+ wings (they let you share).
Edit: added “birthday” to promo explanation
Kawarasoba in Kawatana-onsen
https://www.kawarasoba.jp/index.php
ヤマキ in Osaka has the best and cheapest grilled innards in Japan imo.
In Kōchi’s Hirome ichiba you can get some great food in general. However people will vouch for 明神丸 however they are wrong. Maybe that was correct in the past but やいろ亭’s Katsuo will make you disappointed in every other Katsuo you eat for the rest of your life. Fuck.
Now anything that silver-grape puts out for ramen is great and worth visiting. I really enjoy Next in Namba but Za Gin changed my mind about tonkatsu being GOAT ramen. It is for sure toripaitan all the way for me now.
If you go to Hiroshima you’ll have to hit up 笑顔 but make sure to make a reservation well in advance. The cost performance is great.
If you wanna spend big bucks I really recommend Lurra in Kyoto. Those boys know what they are doing and their time at Noma in Copenhagen really paid off.
1975 in Tenma is a great small Izakaya that is just overall good but I really like the Ainu style frozen sashimi and the 酒盗.
Bonshige in Tenmabashi has some of the best okonomiyaki in all of Osaka and is just a nice evening out as well.
I could go on but those are the main places that really stand out I guess,…
Besides the chain stores 紅白 and さしす.
Place called EvilTex in Takayama, Gifu. Only been once while passing through. Very nostalgic taste and art style for me that I cannot explain even if I wanted to, but 11/10.
I go to ちばちゃん for wings because I’m broke and actualy like the fried noodle filler
taste wise is a hit or miss since busy stores sometimes under marinate the chicken but cost performance cant be beat
Nooks Kitchen and lodge outside of Kochi, Shikoku
https://visitkochijapan.com/en/topics/1514
I stayed with her for a month as a volunteer before she set the lodge up and despite doing manual labour all day every day, gained 4kg. Went back this January with my husband as customers.
Her food is amazing. It’s all locally sourced game meat and she had worked in New Zealand so knows how to make more western style dishes as well as Japanese ones.
The location is inconvenient as fuck, but the lodge itself is lovely too. All built of cedar, it smells so good and there’s a huge wooden bathtub.
In kanazawa, try [this place right at the port](https://www.google.com/maps/place/魚処+厚生食堂/@36.6131487,136.6006613,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x5ff9ccf743e9fc8f:0x3d128b5bd942fbe3!8m2!3d36.6115641!4d136.6094589!16s%2Fg%2F12qfwx8th?entry=ttu)–and def go for one of the sashimi sets, something with fish.
If not that spot, then [Hosho](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kappo+Hosho+Sushi/@36.6131487,136.6006613,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x5ff9ccf7e188cd43:0xd70520ef2186a58!8m2!3d36.6129869!4d136.6056323!16s%2Fg%2F1td1d8cb?entry=ttu) is close by there (but expensive).