We knew we were in for a
good time immediately upon
entering Inakaya's west branch
when the wait staff and chefs
chanted and hooted when
we walked through the door.
The restaurant's roughly 20
seats are organized around a
three-sided counter, with the
food spread separating the
guests from the cooks, who
were poised at the ready over
their robatas to take our order.
The first requirement was a
Sapporo beer, with which we
had become quite smitten in
Hokkaido but had found to be
less readily available in Tokyo.
Our chef sent the beer over to
us on a large wooden paddle of
a few metres' length, the same
way he would deliver all of our
food during the evening.
After some contemplation of
the succulent spread in front
of us, we decided on an initial
order of mushrooms and as-
paragus and skewered prime
sirloin beef skewers. Adding
to the theatre, each order is
