Delivery from Torishin (food)

While I loved my meal at Yakitori Totto, the only yakitori restaurant in NYC with a Michelin star is actually Torishin. Another thing Torishin has that Totto doesn't is delivery. There aren't many one Michelin star restaurants in the world that do delivery, so I just had to give it a try.

A couple of general points to note about delivery from Torishin:
1. It appears their delivery zone is about a 10-block (streets) radius from their 64th St/1st Ave location.
2. While they can take orders before the restaurant officially opens, they can't start cooking anything until the restaurant opens as the charcoal won't be ready yet.

My experience:
I got to the restaurant at about 5:45pm on a Thursday to put in my order. As the restaurant wasn't open yet, the front door was locked and I knocked on the window to get someone's attention. While they originally said that only items from the takeout/delivery menu were available for delivery, they let me order a la carte off the regular menu once they realized that I was placing a big order for 4 people. I'm not sure if it would've been different had I ordered on the phone.

They reminded me again that they wouldn't be able to start cooking until 6pm, and expected the food to get delivered at 7pm. Considering the size of our order and that we were 10 blocks away from them, this seemed reasonable. They were right on time, arriving shortly after 7pm. It's unclear to me, however, how efficient their delivery would be during peak hours.

The food:

SKEWER SET C (FOR 2) $55
POTATO, ONION, SHISHITO PEPPER, SHIITAKE;
PORK BELLY W/TOMATO, CHICKEN BREAST W/SCALLION, CHICKEN BREAST W/YUAN MOROMI MISO, CHICKEN BREAST W/SHISO PLUM;
MEATBALL, CHICKEN WING, CHICKEN RIBS, DARK MEAT
COMES WITH 2 WHITE RICE AND 1 SALAD
While the food was no longer piping hot, it was still tender and flavorful. The pieces of meat were denser than what I had at Totto, and are deceptively filling. Everything was good, but our favorite of this group was the chicken wing. We wondered at first if they were ribs as there were bones, but it was definitely just some outstanding wings. The meatball also stood out as cartilage had been mixed in to give it a unique texture.


DUCK W/ASPARAGUS $9
PEPPER W/GARLIC MISO $5
While I'm normally much more adventurous when it comes to yakitori, I wasn't sure obscure cuts and offal would hold up well to delivery, so we ended up getting additional a la carte skewers of mostly meat. Our absolute favorite of the entire evening was the duck with asparagus, which was meaty and flavorful, with the asparagus providing a nice soft crunch and mellowing out some of the richness.

Overall:
It's definitely not as good as getting the skewers hot off the charcoal, but it's a good alternative if you just want some tasty delivery or if you can't be bothered with the crowded space and wait at the restaurant. Their ever-aging sauce is terrific, and the quality of the ingredients, from meat to produce, shines through. The food is clearly prepared with love and care, which makes it a worthy splurge.

1193 1st Ave
Between 64th and 65th Streets
Manhattan, NY