Saitamaya — Restaurant in Tokyo

Absolutely incredible experience, though not for everyone. TLDR: a lot of organ meat, with skewers cooked fairly raw as recommended by the chef, in an environment that's rowdy and cosy and social in the best way.

On queueing - This place seems to be unknown enough that everyone who lined up for the first seating at 4pm was able to be seated, though some squeezing was required. For reference, I arrived at 3:30pm on a particularly busy day and was ~22nd, with the final party (of 3) behind me.

On English - I was the only native EN speaker in our seating, but they very kindly accommodated me! The chef speaks a little bit of English but not enough to converse, but there happened to be a Japanese man who was a high school English teacher in the seating, and they moved him next to me to help translate.

On the food - Primarily pork skewers, with a bunch of organ meat, but also a lot of other stuff, including: wagyu beef, pork intestine, liver, pig ear, spleen, beef stew, pork belly, chicken thigh, chicken cartilage. Get an least one Lemon Sour for a drink if you can, they have the best lemon sour I've had.

On the atmosphere - Very cosy, rowdy, and social in the best ways. The chef is a jokester and very chatty with the locals, and when I went there were a bunch of regulars and returning customers. This is the kind of place where everyone is chatting and having a good time. I was even gifted a slice of wagyu sashimi from a regular as a "welcome to Saitamaya".

I am definitely going again the next time...

The food was fantastic and the owner was so warm And bubbly with the most wonderful personality! Ordering is simple because it’s the owners choice of 9 skewers made from beef, pork and chicken. The beef stew with toasted bread is also a must try dish as the meat is stewed until it is completely fork tender. You can use your lips to chew the meat.

For the main event, Each of the 9 skewers was specially curated to give you an experience which just keeps going up, up, up! Each skewer was entirely different from the other and they each had their own special traits, flavour and texture. The highlights for me were the pork intestine skewer, pork spleen and the chicken skewer with salsa was a great way to end the meal. Order a strong lemon sour to go with the meal and get ready for a great time of interaction and food! I will...

The food is absolutely amazing, every single skewer was delicious, and the chefs were very friendly, but there are a few points you absolutely have to take note of before coming here to eat.

Don't walk in appearing drunk. You won't be allowed to dine.

Absolutely order alcoholic drinks only, or you'll be shown the door.

No taking of photos. Not the food, not the interior, not the people, nothing.

Line your skewers parallel to the plate so that it doesn't touch the sauce at the base of the plate and affect the flavor.

There is no menu, everybody gets the same 9-skewer course as a basis and you can then choose to order other things on top of that. It may seem strict, but follow the rules and you'll have the most amazing dining experience in northern Tokyo with the friendliest kushiyaki chef...