If you're looking for hot-off-the-grill yakitori at lunchtime you might be disappointed, as most shops around town don't actually fire up their grills until early evening. Instead, they usually offer oyako-don and other quickly assembled rice-based dishes for the fast-paced lunch crowd. Isehiro is an exception though, and here you can order a full assortment of freshly grilled skewers, as long as you don't mind waiting for them to be prepared.

Starting with premium heirloom chickens, the chefs grill every cut to perfection - gizzards and sasami are tender and moist, with a bit of wasabi kick to the sasami, while the tsukune is juicy and pleasantly crunchy in texture. The lunch set comes with a nice chicken skin broth to start things off, and first-rate pickles to accompany your rice.

Isehiro was founded in 1921, and although they spent most of their first century in rather cramped quarters in Kyobashi, the main branch moved to a brand-new, much more spacious location around the corner in the autumn of 2020. Lunchtime menus are priced Y1,600-3,950; budget around Y8,000 at dinnertime.