Tori Saku is a franchise of delicious Japanese-style fried chicken known as karaage, with stores across Kyoto and Osaka.
Unlike typical western-style fried chicken, karaage is made using a type of potato starch batter and is flavored with soy sauce marinades, resulting in a light, crispy taste. Tori Saku is leading the charge in Japan’s Kansai region, an affordable and high-quality restaurant chain offering an abundance of karaage dishes that are delicious and filling.
Love at First Sight
It was indeed love at first sight when I came across the Tori Saku branch in Kyoto. Located just next to Keihan Railway’s Kiyomizu-Gojo station, it’s super easy to find along the Kamo River. What truly caught my eye was the incredible display of plastic foods at the shopfront, featuring incredibly detailed sculptures of fried chicken in all its forms, from rice bowls to noodle soups or just towering piles of it covered in creamy sauce.
Delicious Crispy Chicken
I decided to start off with Tori Saku’s iconic staple dish, the plain karaage chicken.
Served with nothing but lettuce and optional Kewpie mayonnaise, it offers a chance to experience their recipe in its purest form.
Incredibly crispy and crunchy, Tori Saku’s karaage chicken is full of flavor and a moist interior, so you’ll never have a dry moment!
Part of a Complete Set!
Trying one dish wasn’t enough, so I topped up my order with a tempura chicken nanban, otherwise known as fried chicken with tartar sauce. Unlike the classic karaage, the battering on this dish was lighter and more fragile, and the sweet vinegar taste of the tartar sauce was an excellent condiment to the experience. The set meal includes a bowl of steamed rice and miso soup so you leave the store nice and full, both in stomach and spirit!
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