This izakaya in Davao City serves yakitori and ginanggang

This izakaya is hidden inside a Japanese grocery store. Photo by Jesse Pizarro Boga

(MindaNews / 12 July) – The concept of an izakaya (a traditional Japanese pub) easily feels foreign to a Davao City local like me who has never been to Japan. Perhaps an introduction to the experience would have been facilitated by an obsession with anime, but I don’t have that either. It also didn’t help that I was still avoiding alcohol intake because of a recent anti-rabies shot.

This is why it took me a while to fully absorb my experience in Kozara Yakitori in Juna Subdivision (inside a Japanese grocery store through a secret door). I still think about the moderately priced yakitori (Japanese chicken skewers) and the novel presence of ginanggang (grilled skewered banana) in the menu.

Kozara Yakitori’s lone dessert item is the Ginanggang Split. Photo by Jesse Pizarro Boga

Kozara claims to “honor the traditions of authentic Japanese yakitori.” The assimilation of yakitori to Davao dining feels natural: grilled food is a staple here and the city is home to fresh ingredients that bring skewers to life. The use of budbud salt for every dish adds a layer of local flavor to Kozara’s take on yakitori, which starts at P50 per stick.

Sticks of Shiro (intestine; isaw, really) were particularly hard to swallow for me and a friend that night. The intestines felt a tad sanitized and didn’t carry the same flavor expected of an isaw which normally comes with the spirit of the streets, my friend joked.

Negima (chicken thigh with leeks) yakitori sticks were an instant hit in our table. The Mune (breast) yakitori is easy to love thanks to its delightful wasabi kick; the smoky, melt-in-your-mouth Reba (liver) yakitori was delightful but left me wishing it came in a bigger portion. More flavorful yakitori featuring special parts were in limited availability: Rosu (inner thigh), Hatsu (heart), Hatsumoto (main artery), and Toro Kawa (fatty butt skin). There was a deliberate effort to shake off a cynical thought in my head: this isn’t regular barbecue, or is it? (Because what do you mean Toro Kawa? Isn’t that just isol or pwet ng manok?)

Skewers are a familiar items even in a Japanese experience. Photo by Jesse Pizarro Boga

My friends also took forever to notice that we have ordered too much and racked up a bill of over P7,000 for five. This included a few rounds of non-yakitori things like fresh octopus, an okra dish, grilled oysters, rice balls, cold soba, and highballs that I wish I had. Kozara also offers a range of Japanese whisky and sake. Not having some alcohol that night probably caused me to miss the point of the entire izakaya experience but I didn’t feel too left out. I can always come back and drink and linger longer next time.

The highlight of my experience was a fun dessert: the Ginanggang Split—small scoops of vanilla ice cream with a chocolate syrup and a stick of grilled banana. Adorable. I finished it in less than a minute. I am the Naruto of banana dessert eating. If that’s not Japanese enough, I don’t know what is. (Jesse Pizarro Boga/MindaNews Contributor)