Jumping off a chef’s table project last year, owner Rugsitt “Jai” Apinuntakulchai recently opened Shidai Kushiyaki, a cozy Japanese restaurant serving skewered meat, fried chicken, grilled saba, and more. Inside a literal white picket fence home, the spot offers a suburban escape in Bangkok’s hurleyburley. 

 

“We want to create an approachable Japanese dining experience, sort of like chilling at a friend’s place. We want customers to feel comfortable to come back for more,” Jai tells BK.

 

 

Here “shidai” translates to the four elements. Each component represents crucial building blocks for the restaurant: earth (the produce), water (the sauce), wind (the chefs), and fire (the cooking process). The second half of the restaurant’s name, “kushiyaki” is an umbrella term for skewered grilled meat and vegetables. Naturally, Jai’s recommended menu is all the skewered goods. 

 

“My personal highlight is the chicken breast which is soft, juicy, and coated with our very own shidai sauce. The whole recipe took over a year to perfect.” 

 

 

The slightly hot sweet and savory shidai sauce is also a key ingredient in the fried chicken (B138), an optimal pairing with some drinks. Another hit is the Mentaiko Tamagoyaki (B198),  a Japanese style sweet egg juxtaposed by the creamy mentaiko (cod roe). You can also dip it in shoyu and wasabi sauce for extra flavor.

 

 

Don’t forget to check out their pescatarian based dishes such as the steamy grilled saba (B188) and the boiled salmon head (B298) which goes hand in hand with a hot bowl of the restaurant’s garlic fried rice.

7, Sukhumvit Soi 60, 089-669-2882. Open Tue-Sun 11am-2pm / 5-10pm. Reservations via Line: @shidaibkk