Birdland
Finding Birdland took some negotiations. I thought it was one place and it wasn't. Fred thought it was about two blocks away and it was but it wasn't. Jessica finally figured it out. It was down in the basement in the train station. There is a theme going on here. I just wonder if it only happens to tourists. Birdland is a yakitori restaurant located next door to Jiro Sushi. I can't decide what was more exciting finding the restaurant or finding out it was next door to Jiro Sushi. If you have seen the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you will understand that seeing Jiro was seriously a highlight. I did not make reservations to eat there because since the movie the meal has gone up to an insanely high price for about a 30 minute meal. This went under the heading, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Birdland has a square bar that wraps around the chefs in the middle who cook our dinner over a hibachi grill.
Dinner was another omikase. Three in one day is killing me. We could only figure that much out by reading the menu and went with it. The first plate was a little taste of chicken flavors. Gizzard and a few pieces of some type of veggies.
A sweet chicken liver pate with slices of a baguette.
Simple grilled chicken with dots of wasabe on top.
Grilled chicken pieces with scallions in between the kabobs.
Grilled chicken livers.
A stange thick tofu with an oil over the top with a roasted cherry tomato.
Small grilled potatoes
Grilled teriyaki chicken pieces
Small bowl of micro greens
Chicken sausages
Pieces of a grilled chicken thigh
Grilled mushrooms
Grilled chicken pieces with scallions and leeks in between.
Last course was a rice bowl with egg and chicken. All and all the whole meal didn't do much for me. I was seriously still stuffed from breakfast. I picked. It was a strange place. Even the glasses of wine we ordered were so small in a regular sized big glass if was if they were holding us back. The best part was seeing Jiro and his son bowing at their patrons on the way out the door.
Comments (Archived):
How are your kids handling all this exotic food? There are some combinations and dishes that I would not try, even as an adult who has experienced many types of cuisines!
our kids have no issues with any type of food. lots of years…
That is wonderful. What a gift. Look forward to your next posts.
I could sense your disappointment on that one as I was reading and before even looking at the pics.Are you planning to go to another hibachi style place later? I have a feeling they can do better than this.
yep. you got it.
Jiro is so great!
I’m exhausted just looking at all of these food pics.You are eating for me this holiday.
Tokyo was originally built in a series of concentric circles with offset roads connecting the circles. It was meant to copy Beijing — designed to confuse invaders, not just tourists. Only the major roads have names & buildings are often numbered by when they were built. Everyone gets lost, not just gaijin. Business cards often have maps on the back just for that reason. Part of the challenge and the charm.
So this is Jiro’s place in the subway?
>just because you can doesn’t mean you should.Exactly. A careful reading of my comment from the other day will reveal that we want to visit a similar place now that we’ve seen the movie. We didn’t like the prices they described in the film, and we assumed it would get worse after the film’s release. :)BTW, your posts from the last few days are making us move a visit to Japan higher on our list.