One of my favourite Japanese cusine is Yakitori and we always head to Kushimura whenever we are back in Tokyo. It’s not that Kushimura isn’t good but it’s time to try out new offerings especially when you can depend on friend’s recommendations. So this time, we headed to Fuku at Yoyogi-Uehara. According to Cat, its a nightmare trying to make reservations at this family-joint Yakitori place as its either always full or they give you false hope, taking in your reservations and making you wait without giving you a definite time. That’s definitely a bummer…But Lady Luck shined upon us as we managed to squeeze in an early dinner reservation at 6pm (but we got carried away window-shopping and ended up being a 40 minutes late, thankfully, they didn’t give up our table).
Step inside Fuku, a charming little place known for its traditional methods of creating first-rate yakitori. You can be assured of quality as only top-quality free-range chicken is used and and placed on skewers. These are then grilled slowly and thoroughly over Japanese bincho charcoal. We started dinner with a round of ‘Nama-Biru’ before proceeding to order our food. It was difficult not to over-order given our ravenous appetite. From grilled chicken cuts, to Tebasaki (chicken wings), to the round grilled Tsukune balls, external surfaces of the chicken are deepy crisp while the plump meat inside remained soft and exquisitely tender. What was memorable was the way the eggplant was prepared as well. The grilled and toasty eggplant was glaced with a sweet sauce and then topped off with bonito flakes and a generous handful of chopped leeks.
There are many seemingly ordinary food items which turn out to be special. One house special worth mentioning to all ‘plum-lovers’ is the Ume Shiso Chicken Skewers. Grilled juicy chunks of chicken are topped off with a delectable plum sauce and then topped wtih shiso leaves. One bite was all it took and I proclaimed this ‘Oiishi’!!! Another ‘Oiishi’ skewer is the smoked cheese- small chunks of processed cheese that have been deeply smoked at Fuku and then warmed slightly on the grill before serving it with crackers.
For all this quality, Fuku is surprisingly inexpensive, with most grill items priced at between 150 to 250 yen. Drinks are also inexpensive – a round of food with a couple of drinks will run about 2,500 to 3,000 yen per person. Just be sure to make reservations!
Till my next trip to Japan, looks like I can only dream of Fuku for now.
Fuku
Address: 3-23-4 Nishihara, Yoyogi-Uehara, Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: 03-485-3234
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