It is easy to find traditional Japanese restaurants in NYC, but not so easy to find an authentic Yakitori restaurant. Well, if you are willing to travel a bit, there is a perfect spot in NJ across the George Washington Bridge. It is Yakitori 39, and in Japanese language, “39” is pronounced “san kyu“, which is the same as “thank you” in Japanglish. It is the way this restaurant say thanks to their customer for their business. The inside is rather small, especially for their popularity and demand. Better to get there early, and even better with a reservation.

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As most traditional Japanese restaurant would, they brought out hot most towelettes to clean your hands before your meal. They have a large plastic cup on each table, used to hold your skewers after you finished your Yakitori.

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If you are not familiar with Yakitori, it is a charcoal-grilled chicken on bamboo skewer, bite-sized. Nowadays, Yakitori can mean so many different kinds of charcoal-grilled meats, veggies, and even seafood. Since the skewers are made to order, it is better to put orders in quickly.

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We ordered several skewers, just one of each kind so that we won’t get too full too fast. It is better to order one to share, if you want to try many kinds of skewers. We started with some veggies wrapped in bacon, and one Tsukune. We ordered Tsukune ($3.80), or Chicken Meatball, with “tare” sauce, which is soy based sauce. It was a-ok, not as flavorful as I remembered for some reason, even though it was lightly coated with the sweet tangy sauce.

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All the other skewers, we ordered with “salt” which basically gets a tiny bit of salt seasoning, without any sauce. Veggies wrapped in bacon are really great, I always enjoyed them! The first one was Asparagus ($4.20). It was so good! Soft yet still crunchy, nice salt flavor without being too much. Next one was Enoki Mushroom ($4.20). This one is my favorite of all…it is meaty and soooo delicious! Last but not least, Cherry Tomato ($4.20). This one, you need to be careful a bit, because it might pop and splash super hot tomato juice into your mouth! Other than that, it is refreshing and tasty! Each one of them is packed with flavor, and minimum amount of salt really brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients.

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After the veggies, we moved onto meat skewers, and one shellfish skewer. Here at Yakitori 39, their specialty is chicken, and they only use free range and organic chicken. They go great with some ice cold beer or sake… They have all sorts of alcoholic beverage here too.

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The first one was Negima ($3), which is Thigh and Scallion. Their chicken is supper plump and tender, juicy and soft, so good! You can taste the quality. Simple yet comforting flavor. Then we had Momo ($3), which is Thigh. Yes, I see that these two orders were kind of redundant… That is what happens when you are trying to order quickly… But since their chicken is so good, we didn’t mind having extra thigh! Next one was something different, Pork Sausage ($3.50). It was fat and juicy, better than I thought it would be. Super plump with the skin that makes cracking noise as you bite in, which was awesome!

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Then we tried the shellfish one, Hotate ($8), or Scallops. This was the most expensive skewer item that we ordered. They were meaty and a bit chewy in a good way. Not fishy at all, plump and tasty! Another bit fancier skewer we ordered was Kurobuta Bara ($4.70), or Berkshire Pork Belly. It was more firm than others, rich and flavorful. Some parts (edges) were almost crunchy from the charcoal grill, which I loved!

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After that, we moved on to other dishes. After all, they do offer more than just skewers. They have many authentic Japanese appetizers such as Japanese salads, Japanese chicken wings, tofu dishes, and many more. They are mostly small dishes, like tapas, to share among your family and friends.

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The first one was Okra Tofu ($6). Nicely chilled silken tofu, topped with chopped okra. Drizzle a bit of soy sauce and into my mouth! It was super refreshing, with great crunchy texture from the okra. It was the perfect dish for pallet cleanser and digestion.

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Then Tarako Mayonnaise French Fries ($6). It came out super hot, right off the fryer. Very potato-y, classic Japanese fries you get from Izakaya. Lightly fried so that they are not greasy at all. The tarako gives a little kick to mayo, we so enjoyed this dish, really nice!

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The last savory item of the evening was Stir-fried Bitter Melon & Pork Belly with Bean Sprouts ($6). Bitter Melon was really, really bitter… It was slightly balanced against the sweetness of pork. Bean sprouts makes the dish to be even more filling. Some pork pieces were quite fatty though… My mother makes amazing dish with bitter melon, and I must say, her dish is better than their dish. She has some special magic that makes bitterness into something super tasty!

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We ended our fabulous dinner with one dessert. Crème Brûlée with Matcha Ice Cream ($8). I was happy to see the large plate, but it was really shallow. It had a nice cracking sugar on top, but as you can see, some parts were way over torched… Burnt with bitter flavor. Matcha ice cream was nice, tasted like real green tea. Nice contrast of sweet and unsweet, cold and warm. Very creamy too.

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Staffs are not overly friendly, but polite and efficient. Most of them (if not all) are Japanese staffs, and the chef at the grill is a Japanese chef. It is so great to dine at traditional Japanese restaurant where I can enjoy authentic Japanese food… I can’t wait to visit Japan again…

Yakitori 39 – 254 Degraw Ave, Teaneck, NJ 07666