Yakitori Totto - New York

Great casual yakitori joint. Managed to get a walk in for one 7pm on a Tuesday but barely so.

A valued colleague picked this outfit with the preamble that the place wasn't as good as pre pdm19, but still good. Second floor, neck breaking stairs (0 accessibility), cluttered space with the ambiance of Vladivostok Pyongyang train. Food mostly meh. Rubbery chicken skin, gyoza decent but fused together on the grill, beef barely competent, chicken meat, wings and entrails underseasoned and undergrilled. Limited vegetarian options. Overall bland and uninspired. Couple of decent sake, otherwise drink selections are again, meh. So when the waiter came to shove us off (time allocated for the party of 3 is 1 hr 45 min), it felt like a relief. On the pricey side, with pretense not living up to competence.

Always good...lived by this type of restaurant in Tokyo...this one is good, but not the same as in Japan

Best place for Yakitori. Kawa was my absolute favorite.

Skewers came out quick. Servers very attentive. Was recommended chef special of chicken knuckles but it was not there when we came. We had salmon crispy rice which was great with the japanese mayo, tofu was also great with the soup base, the wagyu beef was not that tender but tasted ok, the toto pork neck was the best, the eel was ok, and the chicken thigh was average.