There is a long-forgotten hidden gem in Arcadia. For years, I’ve always seen it’s restaurant front while passing by or when going to constantly newly opened restaurants in the same plaza. Recently, we finally wondered what this place was and even if it’s good. Checking on Yelp, we found some scattered recent reviews along with some really old ones. Just 3.5 stars. Didn’t look too impressive, but it’s been there for so long that we’ve decided to just give it a go. No harm in trying. And oh boy, did we not regret trying. This place turned out to serve the most delicious yakitori meal we have ever had! Serving a combination of flavorful skewers and delightful tapas, Hinotori blew our minds! We ended up ordering way more than we anticipated, but that’s okay. It was well worth the damage done to our wallets and we’ll-deserving of my 5 stars on Yelp. 

Can never have yakitori without some sake to pair off with! 

We were their very first customers of the evening! It was nice to have all the attention and all our foods cooked right away and brought to us! 

Kobe houba yaki – magnolia leaf infused Kobe short rib with homemade sweet houba miso. This was my favorite dish of the entire course! It was also the first one to come out. There is flame inside of that little box that cooks the beef through the leaf for you! Just watching it sizzle was such a tease!! The beef was extremely soft and tender. It completely absorbed the seeet flavors from the houba miso and was such an intricate piece of beef to eat and chew.

Tsukune (chicken meatball). Normally the chicken meatball is whatever’s to me at other yakitori places, but this was a different story. My first thoughts when biting into the meatball was that it was so soft, chewy and good! Packed with so much flavor, this chicken meatball was such a surprise! You know a restaurant has chefs who are good at what they make when they can even turn a chicken meatball around! 

Tonpei yaki – pork belly wrapped in egg with okonomiyaki sauce. I just had to get this. It looked so crazy in the picture and even crazier when it’s sizzling hot in front of you. The pork belly was soft. The egg wrapped around it was a sweet, sweet touch. The sauces drizzled on top are like the same sauces used to top off takoyaki. Very good. Savory and sweet altogether. 

Kokoro (chicken heart) and zuri (chicken gizzard). Ahh, two of my favorite skewers came out together. Both crunchy in their unique organ-y ways. 

Negima (chicken thigh with Tokyo onion). Can never go wrong with dark meat! The onion added a nice crunchy texture to the soft thigh. 

Yaki onigiri (chicken rice ball) with spicy cod roe. Wow!!!! This looked so cool coming out! The katsuobushi (or bonito flakes) were moving on its own!! At first I thought it was just the “wind” from our waitress walking behind, but she was gone and it was still moving! Turns out it’s moving because the heat and steam rising from the rice ball makes it move. Cool huh? And oh, it tastes DELICIOUS!! I never knew I could love a rice ball so much. The crunchy and smoky taste of the rice ball with the hot cod roe inside was a great combination together! Not to mention that spicy kick at the end. I could eat 10 of these!!!! It was so good. So, so good. 

Hinotori hot wings. Sweet wings. Sweet and crunchy wings 🙂 

Teba (chicken wing) and Mune (chicken breast) with grilled Ume. The skin was good!! Even the chicken breast had flavor! Props to you, chef! 

Momo (chicken thigh). Aww, our last skewer. It was good but we weren’t ready to stop eating yet.. 

So we ordered more.. 

Satsumaimo (Japan sweet potato with butter). I love sweet potato. It’s one of those nutritious carbs that you can meal prep easy and still have it taste so good. But with butter? Even more amazing!!! The sweet potato was cooked perfectly. So soft and sweet. The crispy skin added texture to it. The butter added a salty component to the sweet sweet potato. 

Yaki mochi (sticky rice cake with yakitori sauce). I didn’t even eat this one right away and it tasted so good!! Again, another dish blows my mind. Chewy mochi inside has turned crunchy from being grilled with papery seaweed added. Yummmmmmy. 

Shio hokke (grilled hokke mackerel). And lastly, it’s our mackerel. The spine and bones are still there but not to fear! It easily peeled off in one whole attempt. And the fish itself? Sooooooo flaky. 

This place completely blew my mind. It is so good, but it is also so expensive. I really do think that this place could thrive tremendously if it weren’t for the prices!!!! However, every single dish was extremely good and tasted like it was worth every penny. I will definitely come back but probably refrain myself from too soon as to save my wallet. Haha. I have instantly marked this place as one of the places I will regularly come back to once in a while. It’s just too good even though so expensive to not eat. <3 

Until we eat again, Hinotori.