Fortunately, @izakayaniningashi salvages their reputation as a decent izakaya via their stellar skewers & gloriously grilled dishes. There ain’t nothing better than smoky, grilled meats & seafood to pair with free flow booze, and I know this fact well from years of firsthand experience.⠀
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The colossal chicken tsukune ($3.50++ with an egg yolk for dipping) was delightfully delish, with a tantalising teriyaki glaze seasoning the freshly grilled poultry exceptionally. The slightly more diminutive yet no less delicious yakitori ($3++ a stick) was generously glazed with more of the same sapid sauce as the chicken was grilled to perfection. Juicy, tender chicken coated in a scintillating sweet & salty sauce? Yes please, more please.⠀
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At $3.50++ a stick, the Kurobuta pork belly was simple yet sumptuous. The competence of the chef on the grill station was the only thing (other than a sufficient seasoning of salt) carrying this fabulously fatty pork belly, and boy was that chef a pro. The meat was tremendously tender with just a hint of char all over, and the fat simply melted in my mouth. The pork belly was gone in sixty nanoseconds, straight down into the churning cauldron of alcohol that was my stomach.⠀
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Last but not least, the whole grilled Japanese squid was as every bit as irresistible as its landlubber-y colleagues. Fresh, bouncy, snappy & charmingly chewy, all this smoky cephalopod required was a liberal sprinkle of salt, or perhaps a judicious brushing of soy sauce.⠀
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Come for the drinks, stay for the grills kids.