新梅田食道街の焼き鳥・とり平 中店 at Umeda, Osaka

A duck yakitori specialist since 1952, grilling over binchotan with a secret family tare and playfully named Neo skewers.

Torihei Nakaten is the newest branch of a yakitori house founded in December 1952, when its creator chose athena (Aigamo, domestic duck) over ordinary chicken and built a reputation as Osaka's number one Torihei. Grilled over Tosa binchotan charcoal and dunked in a family tare that has been topped up and reused since the founding year, the duck skewers carry a firmer bite and deeper richness than broiler chicken, with grated daikon served alongside to refresh the palate between rounds. The menu reads like friendly code - signature skewers carry the playful Neo names (Neo Dondon, Neo Pompon, Neo Gold Dia) coined by a former owner to spark conversation with regulars, and an omakase course lets first-timers sample a wide range one skewer at a time. The Nakaten branch sits inside Shin-Umeda Shokudogai alongside its sibling shops, and it is the most spacious of the group, with a fresh interior that still keeps the heritage feel. Run by the third-generation owner, it welcomes both long-time regulars from the founding days and new faces drawn by television features, and it fills up quickly in the evening, so arriving early is wise. Lunch and dinner both suit solo diners and small groups keen to taste duck yakitori done the old Osaka way. Sit at the counter, watch the binchotan glow, and ask for the omakase if it is your first time - then let the Neo names become part of your evening. Go Umeda is proud of a shop that has kept a flame - and a tare - alive for over seventy years.