Gaburichikin Kouenjiten

Gaburichikin Kouenjiten location is directly east of the Koenji Station JR line, just past the 7 – 11 store on the left. The sign out front states the restaurant name as Gaburichicken, specializing in:
honetsukidori — I have no idea what this is, since I am copying the spelling directly from the storefront marquis. If you google it, you will get all kinds of photos of women.
Karaage — fried chicken pieces
Highball — a large frosty mug of whisky with a mixer
When I searched online, it appears that there is another location of this restaurant in Nagoya. It appears to be a chain. To be honest, we found this restaurant by just walking around until we found something that looked delicious. Once we took a peek inside and were greeted by the enthusiastic chicken hat man, we just had to eat there.
When we visited, the manager was wearing a chicken hat and standing out front greeting customers. He also speaks limited English and was able to quickly take our order from the menu board on the wall. There were some questions that we had that he could not answer, and even though most of the chalkboard menu is in English, not many employees could read or understand what it said.
Eating fried chicken and drinking highball drinks will warm your heart. What’s not to love?
The karaage boneless chicken is phenominal, and the breading at Gaburi is unique. The best dish is the crispy baked chicken thigh (on the bone) with a yummy crispy onion and garlic infused topping. I don’t know what is on it, but it is addictive.
In the Koenji area, you will find many Izakaya, and even some as specific has Gaburi. However, you will not find another restaurant just oozing warmth and friendliness out into the street like Gaburi. The excellent food and drinks help too, though.
A memorable experience for our first meal in Japan, I will never forget it.