Nagoya - Hinotez 2

We had intentions of revisiting the original Yakyuudori  againon our last evening in Nagoya. Taka-san even told them to expect us. Yakyuudori doesn't take reservations, so our initial plan was to be there right when they opened. However, we'd had a pretty full day already and had passed out after lunch at Yabaton. When we awoke, it was getting late....but since Taka-san had told them to expect us; we had to show up. And we did. Yakyuudori however, was absolutely packed....folks were eating on the benches against the wall! The really nice guy from last time came out from behind the grill and told us; "you go to Hinotetsu 2"....so we decided to go down the street and find the place. But, in typical Japanese manner, he came out from behind the grill and insisted on walking us there!

We felt really bad in having him walk us to the place.....but he insisted and was so nice. He made sure to introduce us to the chef.

We quickly noticed something about the style of grilling at this location. There was minimum use of tare.

As was evident by the Kimo; chicken liver.

Though the Missus said She really liked this version as it had really absorbed the bincho flavor.

The butashiso was very good; the pork was tender and moist and the flavor of the shiso came through nicely.

A very nice version.

Last time around, I didn't know that Yakyuudori and Hinotez serves up basashi, raw horse, one of my favorite things. This time I made sure to order it.

While a bit leaner than my favorite version; the flavor was clean and the ginger and ponzu really made this refreshing.

We tend to use Tsukune; chicken meatballs, as our measure of a yakitori shop. This version didn't do it for us.

This was really tough and hard, totally different from what we enjoy in a good tsukune. It really had the texture of an over worked sausage; even the beautiful egg yolk, nor the tare, of which it was drenched in couldn't help.

The teba; chicken wings were prepared in a different manner than the classic Yakyudori/Taisho splayed version, but the skin was very crisp and it was seasoned well.

We finished off with some kawa; the chicken skin.

This did real well with the straight up bincho grilling. It was nice and crisp and salted quite well. Though we did miss the crisp edges and the buttery interior of our favorite versions.

Overall, a mixed bag, but not bad. If anything, we appreciated Taisho even more after this visit. We'll make sure to get to Yakyuudori on time when we're back in Nagoya.

Hinotez 2
105 Fujimigaoka
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Comments

[kat]

bummer with that tsukune :(

[Kirk]

It was Kat!

[Junichi]

Wow tsukune is one of my favorites too. Never came across one that's hard or tough. My current favorite is at Hino. Although they overcooked the wings last time.

[Kirk]

Hmmmm.....I gotta get back to Hino Junichi. I still enjoy Taisho the best.