Oh! Taisho, gimme Yakitori!!

After a long walk of the day, we decided to have something to eat in the neighborhood before climbing back to the apartment. We ended up ten steps away from our apartment at Oh! Taisho, the Japanese Izayaka style restaurant, a type of Japanese street food place that served foods to accompany the drinks . The place is on Saint Marks Place and 3 Avenue, Manhattan.

I don't drink,...Really!!...so my aim was the Yakitori, grilled meats and vegetables on sticks.
B set Yakitori

Seaweed Salad

Even though I have not yet had a real Izayaka experience in Japan, growing up reading Japanese comics my eyes out, I can say that this Oh! Taisho is exactly what I always see in Japanese comic books, a tiny stall with a long counter attached to the stall as a long table for customers to sit and have hot Ramen.
Grilled Squid


The place is so tiny, and always cramped and bustling. We don't come here as often as we did before anymore, for a while we just get tired of a lot of people and long waiting line.

It is a fun place to hang out with a gang of friends though....for a date?...I won't recommend. With the bustling, yelling for the foods from very busy waiters and waitresses, I don't think it's romantic at all.
Steamed Rice Ball with Spicy Cod Roe inside

Japanese Sausages

Over a past year or two, we I've noticed a drop in quality - the Yakitory most of the time comes out cold when it supposes to be hot from the grill. I believe they are too busy to keep the quality of the food stable, and that's might be one reason that we step back a little.

But, it's not that bad, after a long break, I still enjoy my favorite Yakitori even though, again, it came out a little bit cold instead of hot from the grill.
Grilled Green Onion


This time we sat at the counter because we didn't want to wait for a table inside, and that we realized that it was a bad idea for our appetite to be able to see how they handle the foods with their hands.

I used to work in the restaurant, I understand the nature of a kitchen frenzy, when you have to be on top of a pile of orders. That's why we prefer not to see it to be able to eat out.