Raw chicken. Most people are shocked or alarmed when told you can eat chicken raw in Japan. Especially Westerners. Especially Westerners who eat strictly breast meat bought pre-packed from a supermarket.
I get it. I do not and would not attempt to eat chicken raw anywhere outside of Japan. But when there, I’m more adventurous.
Now, I never especially liked raw chicken. At Jidoriya Tsukada, however, my impression changed.
First of all, no dish came completely raw. That would be a feeble attempt to convince anyone that raw chicken is a delicacy. Most dishes came either slow cooked, torched, lightly grilled on open fire or generously marinated.
The food was excellent I must say. First the cooked food. They had a minced chicken cutlet which was very good. So good in fact that I saw most tables order seconds. Then they had a chicken ham. It was nice, but nothing to shout about. Their cooked liver was great. Cooked just enough to be creamy and yet maintain a slight bite. Their raw chicken platter was a revelation. They had several parts of the chicken either slow cooked or torched raw. The liver and the heart were my clear favourites. The rest was not bad either. Another thing to definitely order is the potato salad which has a soft boiled chicken sitting on top. Mix the whole thing and it’s heavenly. The one thing I was not a fan of was the raw kidney in an egg-based sauce. It came cold. Not sure whether it was meant to be this way but it was not pleasant.
I doubt I would visit the place again when back in Tokyo. But for an experience of chicken in all its glory…and raw, I would totally recommend it.