Koichan

Set within a residential pocket of Kohoku in Adachi Ward, Koichan is an easygoing, home-style izakaya suited both to solo evening dinners on the way home from work and relaxed group get-togethers. The dining room offers both standard tables and traditional tatami seating, creating a comfortable, unpretentious backdrop whether dropping by alone for a quiet drink or sharing a table with company.

The food menu is anchored by classic yakitori skewers, including chicken thigh, negima leek-and-chicken, crunchy cartilage, and minced chicken tsukune meatballs, each available seasoned with savory-sweet tare sauce or simple salt. Fresh off the grill, these skewers pair naturally with a cold draft beer, a whisky highball, or the pub's popular island-lemon chuhai.

Fried appetizers provide plenty of variety alongside the grill. Crisp bar snacks like fried cartilage and french fries share space with heartier options such as minced-meat-stuffed lotus root, gyoza-stuffed chicken wings, and fried cheese wraps. Seafood choices round out the small plates, ranging from seaweed-wrapped fried mountain yam to deep-fried horse mackerel and shishamo smelt.

For lighter bites between skewers, the kitchen offers edamame, chilled tofu, and napa cabbage kimchi, as well as slow-simmered beef or pork offal stew and the house Koichan salad. Course meals with all-you-can-drink plans are also on offer for larger gatherings. Because seating is limited, booking in advance is sensible when visiting with fixed plans.