Kushiwakamaru
Yakitori – bite-sized cuts of chicken (and some vegetables) skewered, grilled and then seasoned with salt or slathered with thick soy sauce – is classic blue-collar fare: cheerful, affordable and best washed down with flagons of lager, sake or shochu. The cheapest places tend to be raucous and smoky, and often specialise in offal, but Kushiwakamaru hits just the right note. The feel is casual and accessible, while the charcoal-grilled chicken is well above average. There are always a few specials, such as duck or quail. And don't miss the negima (chicken and leek), the tsukune (balls of minced chicken) or the tebasaki chicken wings (forget chopsticks – these you pick up and gnaw with your hands).
• 1-19-2 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku, +81 3 3715 9292,r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131701/13003193, yakitori from £1.60/stick, English menu. Open lunch Mon-Sat 12pm-2pm; dinner Mon-Sat 5.30pm-midnight, Sun/holidyas 4pm-11pm
• 1-19-2 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku, +81 3 3715 9292,r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131701/13003193, yakitori from £1.60/stick, English menu. Open lunch Mon-Sat 12pm-2pm; dinner Mon-Sat 5.30pm-midnight, Sun/holidyas 4pm-11pm
