Oh! Taisho
If you like barbecued meat, Oh! Taisho might just be the place for you. Now that the weather is getting progressively more unpleasant, wouldn't you want to sit in a warm restaurant to eat some steaming hot fresh off the grill skewers?
Oh! Taisho is located on Saint Marks next to all the other Japanese izakayas. They specialize especially in yakitori, grilled skewered marinated meat. How good does that sound already? Though I usually just get an assortment of that, since I was dining with three other people, we decided to try a few other things as well.
We started off with the chikuwa cheese, which was deep fried fishcake with mozzarella. Yeah, I know, that must sound weird, but I love my cheesy things. In addition, we got a spicy cod roe and a plum onigiri (rice ball) for the table, which were surprisingly gargantuan.
From the grill, we ordered an assortment of skewers a la carte because the combos just never have exactly what I want.
Things I always get at yakitoris:
- chicken gizzard
- chicken skin (whatever, super guilty pleasure from childhood)
- gingko nut (not available everywhere, like here)
- beef tongue
- scallion
- mushrooms
- garlic
Things in addition to that you should definitely try at Oh! Taisho:
- chicken meat ball
I've never been one for meat balls, but this one was particularly juicy! I'd definitely go back for some more of that. We also got an order of spare ribs, which were also massive in size. They were kind of rough, and we couldn't finish them, but they tasted great when I had them for leftovers the next day.
To top everything off, we got an unatama don, a sort of eel omelet over rice. I don't know why I love these omelet rices, but egg with rice in general is always a winner for me, so this was great to balance with the sometimes salty skewers.
This place can get crowded and noisy, so if you're looking for a quieter/more upscale eatery, perhaps try Yakitori Totto uptown instead. Otherwise, squeeze right in to Oh! Taisho.
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| Unatama don (top left), Chikuwa cheese (bottom), and onigiri (right) |
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| Barbecued spare ribs |
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| Unatama don |
9 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
