These are three of the best karāge restaurants in Japan (Kajiwara-approved)
‘Toyota’ in Jiyugaoka, ‘Taiheiraku’ in Kashiwa, Chiba, and even though I sadly missed mentioning Nagasaki’s ‘Edozen’, which closed up for good the year before last. This meant the flavour from one of these would be lost forever, but then there was news from Nagasaki last year that ‘Edozen’ will reopen.
If I go somewhere too quickly, feel unsatisfied and disappointed, but with today’s ‘special feature on karāge’ released in Shukan Post, my wish for this sort of advice finally came true.
Well, ‘Edozen’ now goes by a different name: ‘Torifuku’. For more information, you’d do well to read the article (in Japanese). However, it tastes just like ‘Edozen’. Since the old master is cooking I guess this is only natural. However, it feels like it’s become even more delicious than before.
Sweet Kyūshū-like seasoning. Batter is fresh and crisp, and juicy inside. It comes with or without the bone but far the best is ‘with’. There’s also plenty of Sansoku-yaki (large fried chicken) and Kaizoku-yaki (barbecue style chicken from Shikoku). This time meant there was a shop in every direction, so could pick up some bit-sized gyoza from the well-known shop ‘Hōuntei’.
It’s worth the trip to eat so much. In fact I sometimes flew to Nagasaki just to go to ‘Edozen’.