If you’re looking for an omakase restaurant with a secret Japanese vibe and the authentic taste of traditional yakitori in an exclusive atmosphere like no other, Kuma No Yakitori brings this unique experience right to the heart of Bangkok at Sukhumvit 47. Today, Hungry Hub invites you to explore this extraordinary dining experience.
Kuma No Yakitori
Kuma No Yakitori is renowned for its Yakitori (grilled skewers) served in an Omakase style. The restaurant is located in Rain Hill, a community mall at Sukhumvit 47, conveniently situated between two BTS stations: Thonglor Station and Phrom Phong Station. Those traveling via BTS can get off at either Thonglor or Phrom Phong station. After exiting the station, walk along the footpath for approximately 650 meters (about 8 minutes) to reach Sukhumvit 47, where Rain Hill is located.
For those traveling by personal car, the community mall provides parking facilities. Customers can park for free for the first 30 minutes. If you purchase products or services within the community mall amounting to 200 THB or more, you can park for free for 2 hours. Additionally, if you dine at Kuma No Yakitori, you can bring your receipt to validate your parking, allowing you to park for free for up to 8 hours.
This restaurant opens two dining sessions daily, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM for the first session and 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM for the second session (closed every Monday).
For those traveling by personal car and making reservations during these hours, it’s essential to plan your journey well in advance. Traffic along Sukhumvit Road during these times tends to be extremely congested.
From a Members-Only Restaurant to a secret Omakase at Sukhumvit 47
The inspiration behind this restaurant began with Chef Yoshinari Takagi, the owner and mastermind behind the concept. Chef Takagi aimed to serve authentic yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) from his homeland, offering an elevated taste of chicken that exceeds expectations. His vision was to create a dining experience that is both exclusive and unmatched, giving diners a chance to savor the artistry of yakitori in a truly unique setting.
Chef Yoshinari Takagi decided to open his first restaurant in Osaka in 2014. However, this restaurant was an exclusive, members-only venue. To dine at this secret establishment, customers had to first become members by paying a membership fee of ¥300,000 (about 68,000 baht). Additionally, they were required to book in advance to secure a seat, making this dining experience one of rarity and exclusivity.
Once customers successfully make a reservation, they receive a code to unlock the door and enter the restaurant. Upon entering, they are served an Omakase-style course menu, with beautifully plated Fine Dining dishes that are both visually appealing and appetizing. The majority of the menu is Yakitori (grilled skewered chicken), and the dishes change according to the season, providing a unique and dynamic dining experience each time.
Each dish is carefully selected and crafted by the chef right in front of the customers, offering the story of the flavors dish by dish. At the same time, customers can watch the chef’s culinary techniques and engage in conversation with him, creating a personal and interactive dining experience.
As the restaurant’s reputation in Osaka grew, it gained widespread recognition, attracting many customers eager to become members to dine at the exclusive restaurant and experience its unique dining environment once.
In April 2024, the restaurant decided to expand internationally, opening a secret location in Thailand to bring its unique dining experience to Thailand, offering a chance for everyone to enjoy this exclusive dining experience. Importantly, there is no membership fee required, making this extraordinary experience accessible to all. So don’t hesitate—step into this restaurant today!
The exclusive atmosphere unlike others
When you arrive at the restaurant entrance, you will find the door closed. Enter the code you received to open the door, and once it opens, you can step inside.
Upon entering, you will find a large counter bar room decorated with a simple Wabi-sabi concept. The walls feature intricate murals with crane wings, sky clouds, tree patterns, and hidden teddy bear designs. Despite the simplicity, the space exudes warmth and an exclusive, private atmosphere, making you feel like you are sitting in a peaceful, tranquil world free from distractions.
Next, take a seat at the large counter bar, wait for the chef to appear, and begin preparing the meal. The counter bar can accommodate up to 12 guests. Additionally, the restaurant offers a private dining room that can host up to 7 guests.
Seasonal Menu Course
The restaurant’s menu course changes according to the season. Before beginning the meal, the chef presents the seasonal ingredients to the customers, explaining what dishes will be created from them. We had the opportunity to try the new seasonal menu for December 2024, which featured fresh ingredients carefully chosen to showcase the flavors of the month.
Winter Omakase
The course menu that we enjoyed from the restaurant’s chef-owner is called “Winter Omakase.” It’s a winter-themed course specially crafted by Chef Yoshinari, featuring seasonal ingredients such as snow crab, cod milt (shirako), foie gras, and winter vegetables. This delightful meal is served alongside the restaurant’s renowned yakitori, offering a total of 15 courses for everyone to experience the flavors of the winter season.
Alright, let’s try those dishes together and explore what’s on the menu at Kuma No Yakitori.
Let’s start with the first dish, Snow Crab Soup. This dish is created by simmering various ingredients such as vegetables, spices, and chicken bones for an extended period, resulting in a rich, red broth that closely resembles the color of fresh chicken blood. The soup is served in a wine glass, accompanied by snow crab leg meat. Upon tasting the soup, you can immediately feel its refreshing sweetness and the deep, unique flavor of the broth. Pairing it with the snow crab leg meat enhances the experience, as you can enjoy the freshness, sweetness, and flavor of both the soup and the crab meat, which complement each other beautifully.
Let’s move on to the second dish, Chicken Tartare. This dish consists of finely minced chicken mixed with the restaurant’s special sauce, topped with thin slices of red daikon radish and a dusting of gold powder. It is then elegantly plated to make it look as appetizing as it tastes. When you take a bite, you can taste the freshness of the minced chicken along with the crispiness of the red daikon radish slices. Combining the two gives a satisfying crunch, enhancing the overall texture and enjoyment of this dish.
Next, let’s move on to the Yakitori dish. All the Yakitori items are carefully crafted and prepared by Chef Yoshinari. The chef serves each Yakitori dish individually, and some of the Yakitori options may vary each day depending on the available ingredients. This allows the chef to create a unique Yakitori menu every day, offering something different almost every time.
Yakitori Chicken Leg with Scallion: This dish features skewered chicken grilled to perfection alongside Japanese scallions. The chicken and scallions are cooked over hot charcoal, giving them a distinct smoky aroma. Once done, they are served on a stone plate with a beautiful presentation. The scent of the charcoal, the juicy chicken, and the mild, sweet flavor of the grilled scallions entice you to take a bite. When tasted, the chicken’s tenderness and juiciness complement the crunchy, sweet scallions, creating a delightful experience that leaves you savoring every bite.
Yakitori of the Day: This dish features chicken that is grilled over charcoal until almost cooked through, leaving a slight rawness in the meat. Topped with wasabi and seaweed powder, it offers a unique flavor combination. The chicken is fresh, with a bouncy texture that offers a satisfying chew. The mild spiciness of the wasabi adds a refreshing kick, enhancing the overall taste and making for a truly delightful experience.
The next dish features grilled chicken skin on skewers. The chicken skin is grilled over charcoal and brushed with the restaurant’s special sauce, giving it a unique, fragrant aroma. Upon taking a bite, you experience the chewy texture of the skin, the bouncy meat, and the sweet richness of the special sauce. The more you chew, the more enjoyable and satisfying it becomes.
The next dish is grilled chicken meatballs with special sauce and breadcrumbs. This dish is served with ground chicken meatballs coated in a special sauce, and topped with breadcrumbs. When you take a bite, you can savor the delicious flavor of the chicken meatballs and the juicy richness of the sauce. The breadcrumbs add an extra layer of texture, making the meatballs even more enjoyable to chew.
Cod Milt Steam Egg Custard: This Japanese steamed egg dish is topped with cod milt and garnished with beautiful edible flowers. The custard itself has a rich, smooth, and velvety texture that melts in your mouth. When paired with the cod milt, the dish gains a delightful crunch and a deeper, more intense flavor that adds to the overall deliciousness.
Assortment Platter “Winter”: A special winter menu that brings together a variety of small dishes in one platter to convey the essence of a “Japanese Winter.” This platter includes an assortment of flavors and ingredients, each representing the unique characteristics of the season in Japan.
- 1. Chicken covered with herb and bread crumb
- 2. Chicken breast canapé topped with a smoked oyster from Hiroshima
- 3. Chicken Liver Mousse
- 4. Seared chicken thighs with monkfish liver’s ponzu sauce
Each dish on the platter offers a unique and deep flavor profile, with textures and tastes that evolve to reflect the changes of the winter season. These dishes beautifully express the essence of winter’s transformation throughout the season, making this a menu we highly recommend everyone try to experience the remarkable flavors firsthand at Kuma No Yakitori.
Grilled chicken heart is another daily Yakitori dish. This dish involves grilling chicken hearts over a charcoal fire, and then seasoning them with salt and pepper. When tasted, the firm and bouncy texture of the chicken hearts becomes apparent, with each bite offering a satisfying chew. This dish is especially recommended for those who enjoy chicken offal.
The grilled mushroom skewer is a simple yet flavorful dish. The mushrooms are skewered and grilled over a charcoal fire, then seasoned with salt and pepper. However, once tasted, the grilled mushrooms reveal a rich, tender texture that melts in the mouth. They are excellent at cleansing the palate after previous dishes, allowing you to fully appreciate the flavors of the next course.
The Yakitori Chicken Wings is a dish where the meat from the chicken wings is grilled over charcoal until it turns a brown color, with a faint smoky aroma. The wings are seasoned with salt and pepper and then served with a wedge of lemon. Squeezing the lemon juice over the chicken, the tangy acidity complements the savory flavors of the meat, creating a perfect balance of taste and freshness.
Rossini with Duck Fillet & Foie Gras is a special winter dish of the year featuring premium duck fillet, topped with foie gras and drizzled with a special sauce. The dish is beautifully garnished with truffle mushrooms. The texture of the firm duck meat complements the rich, creamy flavor of the foie gras, while the subtle aroma of the truffle adds a delicate note. This creates a well-balanced dish with a unique, harmonious flavor, making it an exceptional and delicious culinary experience at Kuma No Yakitori.
Premium Raw Egg on Rice might sound like a simple dish, but the chef transforms this seemingly ordinary menu into something exceptional. The chef begins by cooking Japanese rice in a clay pot, accompanied by special wood charcoal, which adds a delicate smoky flavor. When the lid is lifted, the aroma of both the rice and the wood smoke wafts up, making it incredibly inviting. The chef then serves the rice in a bowl, topped with a Kinkan and adorned with a cute bear-shaped seaweed, resembling the chef himself.
Kinkan refers to the yolk in its undeveloped state, taken directly from the hen’s ovary before it forms into a complete egg. Kinkan eggs are a rare delicacy, boasting a soft and elastic texture paired with an intense umami flavor. Their unique qualities make them a perfect match for various dishes, especially when paired with rice, enhancing the harmony and richness of the meal in a truly delightful way.
When you taste the Kinkan with the warm rice at the Kuma No Yakitori, you experience the freshness and umami of the egg, blending perfectly with the rice. The fragrant scent of the rice also makes it hard to stop eating until it’s all gone.
After finishing all the dishes, the restaurant will serve a seasonal dessert along with Matcha green tea imported from Japan as the final course. This helps to cleanse the palate and remove any lingering savory or fishy flavors from the previous dishes, leaving you with a refreshing sensation after the meal.
For the seasonal dessert, Kuma No Yakitori will serve Wagashi, a traditional Japanese sweet made from red beans and glutinous rice flour. It has a sweet, delicious taste and a chewy, soft texture that is delightful to eat. When paired with Matcha green tea, the flavors complement each other wonderfully.
Ultimate TKG
Additionally, there are special dishes available for order, known as the Ultimate TKG. This is a rice dish topped with salmon roe and uni (sea urchin), served generously to fill the bowl. It is then topped with a raw egg and decorated with a cute bear-shaped seaweed. The chef will use a toothpick to puncture the Kinkan and drizzle it over the entire bowl. When you scoop the rice, filled with salmon roe and uni, covered in the runny Kinkan egg, into your mouth, you experience the umami flavors of the ingredients slowly melting together.
Especially the pop of the salmon roe, which becomes increasingly enjoyable as you chew. Meanwhile, the kinkan egg enhances the dish with its rich flavor and soft, delicate texture, perfectly balancing the creamy richness of the uni that brings out the essence of the sea. The flavors harmonize flawlessly, creating a truly exquisite experience. For anyone who loves salmon roe and uni, this dish is a must-try!
Importantly, this dish must be ordered in advance through the Hungry Hub app only.
And that’s all about Kuma No Yakitori, a restaurant offering an Omakase-style experience in an exclusive atmosphere, featuring authentic Japanese Yakitori flavors like no other. Everyone can now experience this unique dining experience at Sukhumvit Soi 47. To easily book a table at this exclusive restaurant, simply reserve through the Hungry Hub app.
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