Some say Bird Land Ginza which specialises in yakitori is over-rated. Some say it wasn’t even worth making a trip down to but well, we just wanted to give it a try and find out how it compared over the traditional yakitori places that we’ve been frequenting in Tokyo. My top pick for yakitori in Tokyo has gotta be Fuku Yakitori! (thanks to a rec by Fashionista Cat)! There has been no turning back since then.
We tried securing reservations when we were in Tokyo for a short break in Dec 2013/ Jan 2014. Unfortunately, during that time, the restaurant was closed for a long break. This time round, we had a week in Tokyo and since I kinda wanted to give new places a go, decided to ignore the criticisms and give this place a try.
How did it all measure up? Well, turnaround was pretty quick. We were seated at 7pm and by about 8.30pm, we were out of the restaurant. Reason why it could be so quick is because the chefs really cook up the skewers rather quickly instead of taking their time. Is quality compromised? Nope. Most of what were served to us were pretty tasty. 
No fancy sauce was used for most of their skewers. Chefs here kept it clean and simple, using only salt to marinate the chicken meat and with some sauces used for the vegetables to help complement the flavours. They had my fave Spring vegetable – Soramame available so we ordered that to share. They also had a cheese skewer but sigh, nothing comes close to the AMAZING smoked cheese skewer at Fuku. That’s really DA BOMB!!
Would I come back? Does the place deserved it’s one Michelin star? For the former question, well, no. I think I would rather stick to Fuku Yakitori and my next trip back to Japan, no questions asked, I’m just going to head back there. As to whether the place deserve it’s one Michelin star? I didn’t really think so for there are better places around. Perhaps they just did a better job in terms of marketing their items? I don’t know what the appeal was but when we were there, the place was pretty packed with customers so I guess it can’t be all jazz.
Bird Land Address: Tsukamoto-Building B1F, 4-2-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 For reservations in English, click here.
lady J's musings 