Right at the east entrance of Tsuchiura station you will see a Lawson. Keep walking past that and you will see a sign of a big headed cartoonish character eating a drumstick of chicken. It is very big head, you can't miss it. You can get chicken anywhere here in Japan like yakitori or karaage. But in my opinion, Gaburitei's chicken is on a whole other level.
Gaburitei
I want to point out that Gaburitei is actually an izakaya. I have gone to this izakaya a number of times and have always enjoyed my experience. Gaburitei is literally next to the train station so you do not have to worry about driving home. I highly recommend having a cold beer and sharing all the chicken goodness with some friends. Let's talk about the chicken shall we.
The Karaage
I love the karaage in Gaburitei. When you order the karaage you are given five huge pieces of friend chicken with mayo for dipping. You also have a slice of lemon to squeeze over your karaage to add more flavor. I suggest having a piece of karaage without the lemon to try it in it's natural flavor. When you bite into Gaburitei's delicious karaage, you get that satisfying crunch of the crispy skin with the juiciness of the chicken that everyone loves about friend chicken. It is just delightful and satisfying. Gaburitei's karaage is by far my favorite karaage in all of Ibaraki.
The Chicken Ramen
Next up, I want to talk about Gaburitei's delicious chicken ramen. The ramen comes with two slices of chicken instead of chashu, an egg, seaweed, vegetables and glistening slickly looking noodles. The picture above is the omori serving of this ramen, which is the biggest size. That is why there are a lot of noodles in there. The ramen comes in shio (salt) or shoyu (soy sauce). I recently had this ramen for lunch and it is a really nice treat for lunch time. I ordered the shio chicken ramen and it didn't disappoint. The big slices of chicken with the hot noodles is like having the best chicken soup, besides mom's homemade chicken soup. The egg is really soft and breaks apart easily so watch out for that. The ramen is very oily but I really did like the broth. I hope to try the shoyu chicken ramen next time I stop in,
Pork Karaage
Gaburitei, like all izakayas, has a special osusume (recommendation) menu. One item on Gaburitei's osusume menu is the pork karaage. At the time of writing this post, the pork karaage was available on the special menu but it might not be on that menu anymore until summer. Anyway, the pork karaage is pretty good. It was weird biting into it at first. Having a piece of karaage and instead of tasting chicken, tasting pork but it was interesting. The pork is delicious and the skin is still crispy like the chicken karaage. The pork karaage comes with a lot of negi that actually goes well with it. It is also glazed with this tangy sauce which was Ok in my opinion. The wife and I really did like the pork karaage but if we had to choose between the two, we would choose the chicken karaage without hesitation.
Jakoten
Feeling like having fish instead of chicken? Why not try the jakoten, which is also on the osusume menu. Jakoten is fish that are blended into a sort of paste and then fried. You can find jakoten in a lot of restaurants and izakayas in Japan but Gaburitei's jakoten is pretty tasty. If you want to have something light or an appetizer before your chicken, then I would recommend the jakoten. Also, don't forget to spread some radish on your jakoten.
The Chicken!
Now we come to what Gaburitei is famous for, their whole chicken. There are two whole chickens to choose from. The Hina (young) chicken or the Oya (older) chicken. You can order the chicken to come whole or you can ask the staff to cut it up for you so that everyone in your party can share. I have always asked the staff to cut up the chicken and they have always done a great job doing so.
The Hina Chicken (cut)
The Hina chicken is my favorite menu item in Gaburitei. The chicken is soft and juicy. The skin is delicious and crispy. The chicken oil and sauce are amazing. I order this every time I go to Gaburtiei and I am in chicken bliss every single time. The chicken does have a very small bit of spice to it which enhances the flavor. If you go during lunch time, you can order either this chicken or the Oya chicken and get a really good set with the chicken. The set comes with two rice balls, salad and soup. For dinner, it is just the chicken but the staff does give you complementary cabbage to soak up the oily delicious sauce. The cabbage with the sauce is a must try for when you order this chicken.
Don't forget to soak up the sauce!
Unfortunately, I still have yet to try the Oya chicken. From what I have heard, the Oya chicken is delicious but it is a lot tougher than the Hina chicken. It is not as soft but still great according to a friend of mine. I hope to give this chicken a try very soon in the future and report back on how good it is.
The Hina chicken with beer is the best way to go!
I also highly recommend having your chicken with some draft beer. The draft beer in Gaburitei is Kirin, which is great because I am a Kirin kind of guy. The delicious chicken with cold beer is a great and refreshing feeling. Plus, you don't have to worry about driving. As I wrote before, Gaburitei is literally a twenty second walk from the entrance to the station. Kampai!
So if you are on the Joban Line, happen to stop in Tsuchiura and are craving chicken, I very much recommend that you stop in at Gaburitei for some amazing chicken. Who knows, you might see me there, with a beer in one hand and enjoying my Hina chicken in the other.
Enjoy!
For more information on Gaburitei, check out their website:
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