There are more teriyaki restaurants in Seattle than all the burger chains combined. But nobody ever talks about teriyaki. Nobody, other than college freshmen, compares teriyaki places the way people hunt for the best banh mi or pad Thai. It is totally uncool. My favorite is Nasai, on the Ave.
This week’s Seattle Weekly takes teriyaki seriously in a big cover story by critic Jonathan Kauffman. He traces the history of Seattle’s favorite food from its 1976 genesis to the present. My only beef with Kauffman’s story is that he mentions his favorite teriyaki places, but not by name.
He remedied that on the Weekly’s blog. One of Kauffman’s favorites, Teriyaki Madness, is right down the street from us. I’ll take Iris there for lunch soon. Grilled chicken on rice, plus soy sauce. How could that be wrong?
Hooray for teriyaki! I go to Yak’s about once per week. It’s not the best (Nasai on the Ave takes that honor), but it’s consistently good and convenient to my job. I usually order the chicken + gyoza. $6.87. Yum.
My usual place is Tokyo Garden on the Ave.
I actually ponder what makes good or great teriyaki quite regularly. What makes some place the best? Is it the sauce? The quality of the meat? The sides? Who has the best salad with their teriyaki? Can we discuss the whole breast vs. thigh thing? Does anyone do bone-in chicken teriyaki? What about meat that’s got crunchy charred bits? This actually is what sets apart my favorite, Yoshino on Madison (with another location on 12th.) I used to be totally obsessed with their spicy chicken. There’s no point in ordering anything else there, really.
Teriyaki Madness (a couple of blocks from my house) is also pretty good, but for me (so far) nothing beats spicy, no salad, at Yoshino.
I guess I was wrong about whether there are teriyaki geeks.
You know, after writing that I realized I sounded a little bit overzealous. I actually very rarely eat teriyaki! Maybe once every 2 or 3 months. However, that doesn’t stop me from thinking about it! I always wonder to myself if there isn’t some super secret amazing teriyaki place hidden away somewhere in Seattle, just waiting to be discovered. After reading this article I think maybe there isn’t though. Shiki on Queen Anne does what may be a more traditional version. Skin on, even!
Here in the Detroit area nobody but me and a dear departed friend of mine (RIP Tom!) ever talked about and compared the multitude of fried shrimp shacks around town! Miley & Miley or Low Tide II–you be the judge!