Yakitori Taisho
“Especially the meatballs……wife loves the Okonomiyaki or whatever the heck its called, cant pronounce it but its def.”
“Here in New York I was thrilled to find the izakaya-lined St. Marks in the village and Taisho quickly became one of my favorite haunts.”
“What's cool about this place is that they have sets (Set A, Set B, etc) of combination yakitori that you can choose from.”
Yakitori Taisho
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Nominated to have the best yakitori in Manhattan, I really wanted to find this place and see if it is any better or worse than what the press says. When I came here with both my mom and then later my co-fellow, we did order almost the same thing, and it was delicious and also ridiculously cheap! Here is what we ordered:
1. Set C: two skewers each of shitake mushrooms, shrimp, squid legs, green scallions and shishito peppers. (We added chicken livers, chicken skin and when my mom came, we added bacon wrapped scallops)
PROS
-great quantity: definitely too much for one person
-healthy: this is the one set that has vegetable skewers
-filling: believe it or not, the seafood and the shitake mushrooms can really fill you up
-great because it allows you to try more of the other items on the menu like the rice balls (onigiri) and meat skewers without filling you up
CONS
-none unless you wanted a meat AND vegetable assortment set
2. Fried Baby Octopus: this is one of my favorite delicacies to get each time I get yakitori. These are literally bite sized and deep fried. I don't believe they are served with a dipping sauce, but you can ask for some if simple lemon juice doesn't do it for you.
PROS
-shareable: multiple pieces come with this order so it's a really good appetizer to start
-very good flavors: not overly breaded and not over salted
-not burnt, perfectly fried
CONS
-I would like a dipping sauce with these, maybe a spicy mayo or an aoli of some kind. However, that would detract from typical Japanese fare. This is after all, street food or Izakaya food.
3. Sake Yaki Onigiri: grilled Japanese rice ball with salmon. There are many flavors of onigiri, but my favorite is salmon. This is simply the grilled version of it.
PROS
-very filling. It's similar to half a bowl of rice
-good flavors, especially the grilled version: it gives off that nice burnt rice flavor
CONS
-very simple, would go great with oshinki (Japanese pickles)
In summary, I would still give this place a very good rating. So far I haven't had to wait for a long time. This isn't the type of place to sit and chit-chat. People come, sometime wait (for a long time), order, eat, and leave. It's almost customary because this place is so popular and gives eating respect to other patrons who want to enjoy the food here. It's super small, and super cramped but it is very reflective of what it's like to eat at an Izakaya in Japan which is also small and crampy. Props for uniqueness!
My first skewers experience. Huge cold beer, lots of meat on sticks. I loved it. St. Marc's is one of my favorite streets because you can find the best Indian, Falafel, Dollar Pizza, and much more on one street. They're open late for that post bar fix.
Bang for your buck.
Space – There's three 2-person tables outdoors (wouldn't recommend sitting out here if you forgot to wear mosquito repellent), bar seating, air-conditioned seating beyond the bar, and a few tables beyond the bathrooms in the back.
Fried Chicken – Drizzle a few drops of lemon over the top and you're good to go. The appetizer comes with six hearty pieces of chicken. Skin has a nice crisp, and the chicken is super moist.
Chicken Meatball Skewer – Great ratio of lean meat to fat in the mixture. Don't know what the marinade was but it's pretty much the most amazing chicken meatball ever.
Beef Tongue Skewer – One of my favorites but slightly overcooked.
Beef Skewer – Once again, killer marinade.
Check this place out on St. Marks!
My friends and I were here at 2 am after a few hours of drinking so I apologize if I'm fuzzy on some of the details. I'm not quite sure of the relationships between Yakitori Taisho and Oh Taisho! but I believe they have identical menus?
Yakitori – very solid all around. Chicken skin, meatballs, and dark meat chicken are the best. The beef tongue is a bit livery in my opinion. The squid skewer is also very good. 9.5/10
Mentaiko fries are a solid order; 1 order for 5-6 people is probably enough. The whole squid grilled is also fantastic, not rubbery.
Overall, I give this place a 5 because it's open wicked late and the staff is really kind, even at 2 am. The food is executed well, late into the night.
Heads up, there is a minimum of $9 per person.
Yakitori Taisho was great place for drunk snacks.
Really really small and tight inside. The waits here can be long. Loud and great atmosphere for drinking and eating.
They have a ton of yakitori to pick from. Love that they have platters to try a bunch.
Uzura – $1.50 – Love quail eggs and they were perfect.
B. Chicken, Beef Meat Ball, Scallion, Shrimp, Beef – $13.50 – Comes with 10 skewers. Good mix of yakitori to share with a group. All grilled well and awesome with beer. Beef was better then the chicken though.
Been here several times for late night food. Always get a set of the grilled skewers.
Last time I came here with some friends, we ordered the skewers, rock shrimp, salmon avocado salad, tofu salad, chicken teriyaki. Service was pretty slow that night…took awhile to get our food.
The food here is not that bad…but I just don't like how there is a lot of sauce on the salad….and the rock shrimp was pretty sweet. I had to scrape the sauce off with my fork.
And I was craving some ramen, so we ordered 2 bowls….but it was just okay….nothing special… don't think I would get it here again
And my friend ordered unsweetened tea and took a sip ..but it was beer…must have been some kind of mistake..so we let the server know and he brought us the right drink..
At the end, we realized we ordered way too much for 3 people..but finished most of it.. we were so hungry
Cheap, halfway decent sushi spot in St. Mark's. If you're short on cash but want a good meal that's passably Japanese, this is the place to go! Its the king of 'struggling college kid who's tired of ramen tonight' dive bars.
Meat? GOOOOD. Beer? GOOOOD. Value? GOOOOD.
Sit down and order yourself about 50 pork belly skewers, some karaage chicken, a 60 oz of Kirin, and chat your night away. Quality meats and good vibes. Skip the fried octopus, it was too dry. Located conveniently in St. Marks, where you know, every other restaurant is like this.