Yakitori Edomasa is a nearly 100 year old (opened in 1924) restaurant from Tokyo. They opened an outpost (actually relocated as the Tokyo location seems to have closed) in SF Japantown recently. It’s in the Kinokinuya building next to Sophie’s Crepes.
SF Standard blurb:
There was a waiting list when I went on a Sunday night. They use the Yelp waiting list which texts you about your table. I passed the time at Mari’s Mogura Sake Bar with a sake bomb.
They only have a set menu for $30 right now, with some add-ons. They were all out of add-ons though when I went except for the sasami / chicken breast strips, so I just went with the set menu.
PAITAN SOUP
Chicken Paitan soup
Creamy and chicken-y. Would have liked it to be a little bit warmer though, it was lukewarm.
TATAKI-MEATBALL MEATBALL
Original blend chicken meatball (Yakitori sauce)
This was great! Perfectly cooked, light and fluffy meatball. The wasabi on the side highlighted the flavor.
The next two dishes were served on the same plate:
HEART STAMINA
Edomasa’s original skew. Mix of chicken breast chicken skin, chicken heart (Yakitori sauce)
A mix of chicken parts. Crispy skin. Heart and breast were cooked perfectly.
MOMO-THIGH
Chicken thigh (Sea salt)
Nice and juicy thigh meat.
YAKITORI-NEGIMA
Breast meat with Japanese scallion (Yakitori sauce)
Even the white meat was moist and juicy. Nicely cooked.
NAKAMOTO-MID JOINT WING
Chicken wing (Homemade Miso sauce)
A nice chicken wing and a half that came with a wet nap.
TAKIKOMI GOHAN
Seasoned rice with green onion, Daikon sprouts, and sesame
To finish, a simple rice dish with seasonings. Very good.
A very enjoyable dinner, and a deal at $30. One thing to note is that this location doesn’t have a binchotan charcoal grill, and doesn’t have that subtle charcoal flavor. However, I thought that everything was cooked to a perfect doneness regardless.
