Yakitori Style!

The 2 guys I work with most closely over here are named Mori and Daisuke (DiceK). They invited me to go out to dinner last night and even though I had other things to do, I accepted. Both of these guys have spent considerable time in the US, so they are very familiar with American culture. While we were walking over, Mori explained to me that we were going to a yakitori place and these are places where a lot of business men hang out after work. He also said he thought there were a lot less regular bars like we might have in the US. A lot of places functioned like bars, but they all had food. I told him I had kind of learned that the hard way. I told him of this one place I went to in Kobe where I went to have a beer. No one spoke English there, but I could at least order biru. So I got my beer and the owner shoved a menu over to me. I tried to pantomime that I really didn't want any food. He apparently didn't like that because he got a serious look on his face and pointed fairly emphatically at the menu. A couple more sips and a couple 100 yen coins on the bar and I was out of there.
Mori and Daisuke thought that was amusing and asked where that was. I described a spot by the Sannomiya train station, and Mori explained, "oh, that's the area where we're going. You went there by yourself?" I said yes and they commented that I was pretty brave. (Too polite to say foolish?) I said maybe we shouldn't go back to the same place but they said they would protect me. :-)
We found a place that was essentially a hole in the wall place, crammed full of guys after work drinking, smoking and eating munchies. I think the basics of yakitori is that there are all kinds of things that they put on a small skewer, bread lightly and then briefly deep fry. Chicken, squid, cheese, veggies, sausage, almost anything. There are also tubs of dipping sauce on the counter (tasty!) but there are little signs that Daisuke explained said basically "no double dipping." Reminded me of one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes.
One of the things that caught my eye when we entered was what looked like a pot of stew. Mori immediately ordered a small bowl and asked if I wanted any. I asked what it was and he said, "Oh, it's guts!" I politely declined, but then asked if it was good. He said it was really good and I changed my mind. I found that if I thought of it as 'tripe' that I could eat it. To tell the truth, it tasted like really good beef stroganoff or goulash - just don't think too much about the 'noodles.' I probably won't cook it at home, but I would try it again.