Urban Bricks izakaya in Changwon: yakitori eating order, Yakitori Gong

I was looking for a good-vibe yakitori spot in Urban Bricks, Changwon, and that's how I ended up at Yakitori Gong.

True to its name, this is a place centered on chicken skewers (yakitori) with a range of charcoal-grilled dishes — since every skewer is grilled over charcoal, it's a solid pick if you're into yakitori.

What I liked most was that the owner uses good-quality binchotan charcoal and grills each skewer with real care, haha. Since the taste and texture of charcoal-grilled skewers change depending on how they're cooked, that attention to detail felt like the real charm of a proper yakitori specialist.

Yakitori Gong's free sides: fire-roasted peanuts and salad

At Yakitori Gong, peanuts and salad come out as basic sides once you sit down.

But instead of just serving plain peanuts, they roast them over fire, which was a fun surprise. The nutty peanuts came with a subtle smoky aroma on top, making them much tastier than the usual peanuts you get as a side.

They were perfect to snack on with a drink before the skewers arrived.

The 6-skewer yakitori set: what order should you eat it in?

The first thing I ordered was the 6-skewer yakitori set.

My set had green onion chicken thigh, tenderloin, cartilage, heart, tsukune (chicken meatball skewer), and eel — though the menu listed eel, on the day I visited it was swapped out for chicken neck meat.

The first one I ate was the tenderloin. The staff recommended eating it first since it can turn dry and chewy once it cools down.

Having the staff walk me through the eating order skewer by skewer meant I could really appreciate the texture of each cut, rather than just eating whatever came out first. My favorites were the green onion chicken thigh and the heart.

The green onion chicken thigh had just the right amount of skin left on, so it was moist and tender. The juiciness of the thigh meat paired well with the green onion, and with the charcoal aroma added on top, I kept reaching for it as a drinking snack.

The heart was on the plumper side, which made for a really good chew. It wasn't too thin or too dry — I liked the thick, satisfying bite.

And the tsukune was really delicious too. Whenever I go to a yakitori place, I always make sure to try the tsukune, and here the soft texture paired beautifully with the charcoal flavor — very satisfying.

The 3-skewer set and mentaiko scallop cream pasta at Yakitori Gong

Second, I ordered the 3-skewer yakitori set along with mentaiko scallop cream pasta.

The 3-skewer set came with green onion chicken thigh, chicken skin, and heart, served alongside the skewers. The dish that surprisingly went well with it was the mentaiko scallop cream pasta. I'd expected the usual style with scallops sitting on top of the pasta, but here even the scallops came skewered — very fitting for a yakitori specialist.

The scallops weren't tough at all and were nice and moist, pairing well with the cream pasta, and the salty kick of the mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) added to the cream sauce made it good as a drinking snack too. The menu even suggests dipping the scallop skewers into the mentaiko cream sauce — so I tried dipping the green onion chicken skewer in it as well.

It worked better than I expected. The charcoal-smoked green onion chicken thigh combined with the soft, salty mentaiko cream sauce gave a completely different feel from typical yakitori.

Binchotan charcoal yakitori in Changwon: who is Yakitori Gong for?

Yakitori Gong is set up so you can enjoy not just chicken skewers but a whole range of charcoal-grilled dishes alongside good drinks.

As you'd expect from a skewer specialist, the texture clearly differs by cut, so it's fun to order a variety and share. The staff walking you through the eating order for each skewer means even first-timers to yakitori can enjoy it comfortably. I especially liked the sense of care given to every step of the grilling process and every dish during my visit.

If you're looking for a place in Urban Bricks to casually have a drink with friends, or if you already love yakitori and charcoal-grilled food, it's worth a visit. The skewers alone are great, but pairing them with something like pasta, as I did, let me enjoy a wider range of flavors together.

As Yakitori Gong describes itself — a space meant to gently wrap up your day — rather than a loud, bustling meal, it's best enjoyed in a calm mood, eating one skewer at a time with a drink :)