No love for the chicken gizzard. Yari Club. 21.6.25

No love for the chicken gizzard. Yari Club. 21.6.25.

 

 

 

 

Once you start writing a restaurant blog, you start to realise just how vast the subject is. This is one of the reasons why I chose to blog primarily about eateries in the London Chinatown / Soho area. As someone on a modest income who does this as a labour of love, it made sense to restrict the guzzling to a smaller area. If you’re living in London, it’s hard to beat London Chinatown/ Soho – there’s plenty of restaurants offering diverse cuisines to pick from. Sometimes, even in the same restaurant. Not only that, given that the average restaurant has a lifespan that fruit flies would describe as brief, the churn means that you could eat at several different restaurants in succession that occupy the same site. I’ve been to Sichuan hot pot restaurants that transmogrified into something similar but not exactly the same. There is now a German Doner Kebab in St Martin’s Lane where there was once a McDonalds. But not all changes are for the better. Most are usually for something more downmarket and disappointing and it’s all our fault.

 

 

Which brings us to the Yari Club. My partner and I went for looking for somewhere interesting to eat and in St Martin’s lane you are spoiled for choice. We settled for the Yari Club mainly because I hadn’t been in a yakitori joint in a while and I’m a sucker for garish gaudy Japanese style decoration. Being cheapskates, we went for the £8.95 bento boxes which came with sticky rice, coleslaw, yuzu, nori slice, yari sauce and a choice of 4 sticks of yakitori. My partner opted for 2 sticks of tofu and scallion, and 2 sticks of Chicken karaage. For my four sticks, I went for the classic chicken Negima, kawa, prawn tempura and one stick of the tofu and scallion. We weren’t in the mood for alcohol. I did not intend to order the prawn tempura. My preferred option was the chicken gizzard which sadly wasn’t available. The restaurant was dark and cool, which on a very hot day was very welcome. The food was freshly cooked and tasty. Service was swift. Being still hungry, I ordered a stick of Gyukushi (beef)  with enoki but like the chicken gizzard, it was not to be. I ended up settling for oyster mushroom tempura. Like everything else, it was hot and tasty. I spoke to one of the serving staff who informed me that they usually do a roaring lunchtime trade. The matcha beer is a popular accompaniment to their lunch fare. Matcha beer as it turns out is made by simply adding matcha power to regular beer. What can I say? The punters enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I was informed that we had come on the last day of the old menu and was shown the new one which seemed to consist largely of bento boxes and did not feature either beef or chicken gizzard. To make sure I got it right, I double-checked on their website. Chicken gizzard still seems to be option but beef has vanished. Essentially, beef has vanished altogether and I have my still have my doubts about the availability of the gizzard. I can’t be the only one who has lamented the limited options when it comes to fast food options in this country. It feels like the only options are burgers, fried chicken, pizza, Chinese and Indian takeaway, and fish and chips. Not really a lot if you think about it. But if not enough people are willing to order chicken gizzard or beef, then fast food joints will stop providing it.

 

 

 

The Yari Club offers a decent inexpensive Japanese Yakitori menu. Décor was sparse and clean. Food was hot fresh and quick. Service was professional. The bill came up to about thirty quid which is low for the area. I would go again if I was in the area. They did nothing wrong but I still can’t helping missing the gizzards (and the beef).