Mābo is an yakitori omakase restaurant under the direction of the former chef of Teppo, Masayuki Otaka that opened a little over a year ago.  He offers 2  seatings (5:30 and 8:30) for 8 guests of a 14-course tasting menu.   At Teppo, Chef Otaka was known as “the Yakitori King of Dallas” so this place serves more meat than seafood.  Yakitori in Japan means grilled chicken and while five chicken parts are on the tasting menu even more are offered on a supplemental menu.  This supplemental menu includes options for other meats, fish and vegetables.  The basic tasting is $200 per person, with tax, tip and drinks in addition but the chicken supplements we had were just $8 per skewer (I did find it annoying that the supplemental menu had no prices).   The small, minimal space has few decorations but it is serene and tasteful.  We took the early seating and found the door did not get unlocked until precisely 5:30.  After being shown to a comfortable seat at the counter, which has screens blocking you view into the kitchen, we ordered some sake and water and chatted with neighbors until the screen rises 10 minutes later.  Chef Otaka was the only one ever in the kitchen but a sweet server helped with information and serving.  The vent fan runs constantly, because the charcoal is going, but it does make some noise for counter conversations and in addition there is music in the background.  It was great to see Otaka back in action but I don’t think I’ll be a regular here because there’s too much non-yakitori.  The non-yakitori foods were good but didn’t get into great territory.  On the other side though, if you want a yakitori fix this would be the first place I’d direct you to. Continue reading →