Abura – Ya Japanese Fried Chicken

I’ve been to Abura-​Ya a couple of times with co-​workers for lunch. The fried chicken is excellent. I like the perfectly cooked boneless pieces with delicious flavors. It’s a small place, there isn’t a whole lot of seating. Search for «The Hatch» on maps if you are trying to find it. It has a reclaimed Oakland aesthetic on the interior. The name doesn’t stick in my mind for one reason or another but searching «fried chicken Oakland» will get you there in a pinch.

Great lunch spot, that miso wasabi is so good I could drink it on the real though

Abura-​Ya has been a favorite spot of my boyfriend and mine, never fails to disappoint each time we visit! Unique, delicious Japanese inspired fare in a casual/​chill environment — not to mention, their menu often changes based on the availability of ingredients at the local farmers’ markets (the menu even lists out where some ingredients are sourced!). Obviously, their fried chicken is a must; we typically order the teriyaki and ginger miso which are sooo flavorful (also a hefty portion). The Kobe skirt steak, grilled king salmon, fish tacos, fried potatoes and the Japexican fried corn are also some of my faves. Recently brought my parents here (my dad is difficult to impress when it comes to food), and let’s just say they’re planning on their next visit! Abura-​Ya is just one star short due to its very small seating area (sometimes a wait) and the tables aren’t always clean, but they don’t have many staff members and they’re typically very busy! Other than that, Abura-​Ya is definitely the spot for delicious and affordable Japanese food you can’t find around here. Don’t forget to grab a free magnet, pin or sticker on your way out! Free stuff, how can you not love this place?!

We tried four ‘flavors’ or seasonings of fried chicken: garlic miso, umami salt, kamashi honey (japanese mustard), and shichimi (none of which were as heavily sauced as the curry or teriyaki). They served all the chicken mixed together in a boat dish, and to be honest, it was quite hard for me to tell them apart (I know, I’m a terrible reviewer). The one that I could pick out was the garlic miso.
The chicken isn’t battered in the traditional buttermilk style. It has a lighter batter and emphasizes the seasonings on top.
I liked that all the fried chicken dishes also came with a side of raw lettuce and purple cabbage. The fried cauliflower and avocado tempura were also delicious and made great side dishes if you need more veggies to complement the protein.
They also had interesting drink specials like sake sangria.
Don’t expect much service here. You just walk in, order at the cashier, and they will call you name when the food is ready.

Japanese fried chicken! Was great. Really fresh, really good, very Oaklandish.
I had the 4 pieces with salad, quesadilla, and stuffed avocado. Couldn’t be any better. Everything tasted fresh, not overly greasy. Not too distinct of a flavor I wasn’t used to but it was different.
It’s close to the heart of downtown Oakland. A nice place to go eat to before heading to the fox.

Abura what? Abura Yeah! The veggies are the stand out here for me. The chicken is good (no doubt), but where else can you get fried avocado? Not only can you get it here, but it’s awesome. The sesame carrots, the asparagus, the salads… all great.
Situated smack dab in the middle of Oakland’s downtown bar scene, this is the best late night food you could hope to find. It’s pretty good for lunch too ;)

We finally got around to trying Abura-​Ya! Have heard so much about their chicken when they were still a pop up, so I was really looking forward to eating here.
First, it’s cash only, so make sure you have cash with you! Second, expect to smell like fried chicken after dining here. :(Their ventilation system must not have been working that well when we were there, as my clothes smelled like fried chicken when we got out of there. Third, the place is kinda small, so on a busy night, you may not have a place to sit and enjoy your food.
We ordered the 8 pieces chicken ($ 13) with rice ($ 2 extra), potatoes, and salad. We chose the Garlic Miso and Shichimi seasonings for the chicken. Frankly, I could’t tell any difference between the seasonings. Also, the chicken was dry. It was a nice amount of chicken though so sharing the 8 piece order is totally doable for 2 people, so the value is there. As for the sides, the potatoes were coated with a sauce that was too sweet for me, but the salad was good.
If you’re into hot sauce, you’ll love this place coz they have an amazing number of hot sauces you can douse your chicken with. I wanted to taste the chicken, not the hot sauce, so I refrained from using any of them.
Don’t think we’ll be back. I like my fried chicken crunchy, with skin on and moist inside!

Oh delicious Japanese fried chicken.
The day we went here I had just had the worst allergy attack ever. Face numb and sinuses all a mess. Thankfully, abuya made my body feel like a goddess with their curried fried chicken and lemongrass, miso soup. The slaw had a nice curry kick and was a good pairing for the spicy chicken. We got a selection of chicken to try and while I couldn’t eat it all that night, I did stuff my face with leftovers the next day.
The place is a pop-​up so you typically won’t see them open during the day but it is THE perfect spot for a late night dinner. Try everything or or extras and be prepared to get cut throat to find a table. This place is no joke.

Cool little spot with a pop-​up vibe. Menu is full of affordable items that you really can’t go wrong with. Ramones Pandora station cycles through 70’s-80’s punk/​protopunk.
If you’re eating with a friend, get an 8 piece chicken on rice and maybe 2 – 3 sides. Have your friend grab a seat while you wait in line. Or you do it, I don’t run your life/​friendships.

YUM.YUM.YUM.YUM.YUM.
The rice bowls come with 4 big pieces of fried chicken smothered in a sauce of your choice, mixed greens, cabbage, and rice for $ 9. Dry seasonings are also available. So far, I have tried the Agave Ginger and the BBQ sauce, both very good. One small thing I don’t like is that they put a little too much sauce, I had to scrape off a lot because it got too salty. Do be careful, the chicken comes out piping hot! I got too excited once and burnt the roof of my mouth. Totally worth it though. I still need to try all the small bites they have. Don’t forget to bring cash!

This place was such a treat and a wonderful find! Wonderful wasabi, squash salad, which I didn’t ever know went together. The fish was amazing, and the chicken wings were solid.
I’m definitely coming back. Bravo!

Solid fried chicken option in Uptown Oakland.
Those who know me know that I am a fried chicken fiend and would drive to seedy areas just to get me a fix. So when my friend told me about Abura-​Ya, it immediately caught my attention. Abura-​Ya is a pop-​up Japanese fried chicken restaurant. During lunchtime, it operates out of this dive bar in a semi-​sketchy area between Uptown and Chinatown (nighttime they are somewhere else I believe). It is an interesting way to operate a restaurant these days. It shows the high rent cost in the Bay Area is affecting small businesses in a big way.
My friend N and I visited Abura-Ya’s dive bar location just before 11:30am yesterday. It wasn’t too busy when we got there. A few people were either eating at the counter or waiting for their takeout. I wasn’t kidding when I said dive bar. The interior was small and dark with artworks plastered all over the wall. I could totally picture a different clientele at night. We were greeted by the female «chickenkeep» (instead of barkeep) and she gave me a quick rundown of the joint since I’d never been there before. It wasn’t long before we ordered the following:
— 4-​piece Miso Garlic Chicken Rice Bowl ($ 9, came with mixed green with sesame ponzu dressing)
— Fried Chicken Burger ($ 8, avocado, BBQ sauce, shichimi chili blend, two pieces of fried chicken, and mixed green)
— Green Tea Swirl Brownies X2 ($ 3 each)
The chickenkeep walked our order to the kitchen. I noticed the cool logo that they have (think the Presidential Seal with the Chinese character «oil» in the middle). Our order was ready in about 10 minutes. My rice bowl was fantastic. It came with four good size pieces of chicken (they used both thigh and breast meat). They were perfectly fried and moist. The coating was slightly different from traditional Japanese chicken karaage (not by much, perhaps different type of flour was used?). The miso garlic flavor wasn’t too overpowering. The only knock was that they did not marinate the chicken prior to frying, which could have added another level of flavor. The miso ranch dressing that came with my meal was delicious. I noticed pineapples were used for it.
I noticed the bun of N’s fried chicken burger felt apart while she was eating it. N said she should have ordered the rice bowl instead since it’s only a dollar more but you get two more pieces of chicken.
The green tea swirl brownies were excellent. They were moist, chocolatey, and the green tea flavor was really pronounced. Most importantly, it wasn’t overly sweet.
Abura-​Ya is an inexpensive place to get some good fried chicken. Highly recommended if you are in the Uptown Oakland area!
BONUS MATERIAL:
— Cash only.
— Limited seating available.
— Street parking only in the immediate vicinity. Parking lots available a couple blocks away.

Four and a half stars! Minus point five just for the lack of seating.
So I love me some fried chicken. And I had no idea fried chicken could taste this good. Definitely order the 8 piece (instead of 4) so you can try 2 seasonings. I think my fav so far is the wet ginger teriyaki.
Fried potatoes are good but tons of sauce. Cauliflower is also pretty good, and you can pick dry seasonings to add flavor.
Cash only! Prices are cheap too, so order lots and share!

Cool place to chill while having dinner. I came here for the first time yesterday. You order and pay then wait for your name to be called to pickup your order. Extremely friend staff, loud music (but in a good way), and narrow seating area. On one side they have tables while on the opposite side, with windows, they have high top tables.
For the ordering portion, you choose wet or dry chicken, then the flavors and how many pieces (4 or 6) I absolutely loveddd what I ordered. Orange Honey chicken (4 pieces and it was fulfilling) with rice, also came with a bowl of salads, and deviled avocado. Orange Honey chicken thighs were sweet with a kick of honey and orange taste indeed. Very scrumptious! They do not use sugar, so it does seem like the orange honey could be sweeter, but it tastes just right. And oh man, the deviled avocado… was heaven! I would definitely come back to this place and try other flavors but I already have a feeling, these two are going to be my favorite and only things I will keep reordering.

Fried chicken is one of my weaknesses so imagine how excited I was when Abura-​Ya popped up as a search result. The pictures were what caught my attention and the food is what will have me coming back soon.
My boyfriend and I ordered the 8 piece chicken wings ($ 13) over rice and one Uaki Onigiri ($ 2) to try. We got 4 wings with agave ginger teriyaki seasoning and the remaining 4 were ginger miso. While both seasonings were delicious, I preferred the dried ginger miso seasoning. The teriyaki tasted too much like soy sauce for me. The wings were thoroughly seasoned and fried. They weren’t cooked to the point of dryness. The onigiri was very simple. Rice, with soy sauce sprinkled throughout, was shaped into a triangle and grilled. The lack of seaweed on the onigiri threw me off. While it was worth tasting, I wouldn’t order the onigiri again.
Overall, I found the food at Abura-​ya tasty. I would love to come back and try out the other seasonings.

This is not your mother’s (or grandmother’s) fried chicken. We’re talking about karaage — Japanese-​style fried chicken — with a juicy twist.
I’ve been eyeing Abura for the longest time. Finally, a girlfriend of mine suggested we should try it for dinner. A meal consisting of only fried chicken?! Homegirl knows me too well.
Abura uses boneless, skinless chicken thigh. Traditional karaage is doused in flour and then fried for that distinct golden brown crust. Abura deviates from convention though. Instead, they toss the meat in a cornstarch batter before frying. The chicken ends up being super moist and delectable, with a thin crust that retains its crunch despite being drenched in sauce. Don’t worry, the sauces aren’t heavy or overwhelming. They coat the chicken enough to enhance the taste but not in an overbearing way that the natural chicken flavor is lost.
We tried three different seasonings of the fried chicken, which is categorized by either dry or wet.
Dry seasoning:
*Garlic miso — the garlic flavor was faint (re: bland). My friend and I both wished it had more of a garlic kick. The chicken was tender nonetheless. This is Abura’s signature item but I would argue that another saucy chicken is more worthy of this distinction.
Wet seasoning:
*Agave ginger teriyaki — balanced and barely sweet (in a good way) with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. I was hoping for more hints of ginger but it was still tasty. Again, the chicken meat was tender with a crisp exterior.
*Karashi honey — well-​rounded and our favorite of the night! The sweet and slightly tangy sauce was addictive. I would crown this the best fried chicken at Abura.
We also tried some small plates, similar to what you’ll find at izakayas:
*Yaki onigiri — grilled triangular rice balls with a toasty outside crust. We’re Asian so of course we needed some sort of carbs with our meal. The rice balls could have benefited from more grilling but still a solid dish.
*Wasabi pumpkin salad — roasted kabocha pumpkin with Japanese mayo, Karashi mustard, and wasabi oil. Abura does not play around with the wasabi. Sweet Jesus (or should I say spicy Jesus?), the wasabi was so strong. It had a lingering, almost like burning, aftertaste. This overpowered the pumpkin (which is already subtle in flavor). We couldn’t finish the salad due to the intensity of the wasabi. If you’re a wasabi lover, this salad is for you.
Abura is cash-​only and there is no waiter service. You order at the counter and they call you up when it’s ready. The folks working here are super friendly. The atmosphere is hipster/​punk rock, which aligns with the unorthodox spin Abura takes on Japanese food. Parking isn’t too difficult to find but the neighborhood is somewhat shifty. I’d return to try the other fried chicken offerings, and I’ll probably bring a few pals. A wise man once said, «Fried chicken is best enjoyed with the company of friends.» (OK, I made that up but those are wise words, right?)

We came to Aburaya on what looked like a slow Friday night. There were plenty of seats around 6:00pm. By the time we were leaving there was a long line of customers and now I know why!
We ordered the large 12 piece fried chicken — 6 Aburaya BBQ and a dry miso rub on the other half. For two of us. It came with a side salad and what I thought was a miso/​dill/​ranch dressing that was delicious (we used it to dip our chicken in). The chicken was a mix of dark and white meat and deliciously seasoned. I only wish that I could try more of the seasonings!
I ordered one of the optional deals which was $ 4 for a tall boy Pabst and wasabi coleslaw. Coleslaw was really good and not overpowering.
The best part? A couple of homemade hot sauces to accompany your chicken! I had the grape jalapeño sauce and the apple habanero cilantro sauce. Amazing mixture of flavors.
Ultimately I spent $ 21 for a huge meal for two and a tall beer. Great bang for your buck and if you go early enough, it isn’t too crowded into yet. Must go!

Incredibly underwhelming.
Maybe this place was just too hyped up for me, but I was pretty disappointed with my meal here.
Went with some friends and we shared the 8 piece of fried chicken, grilled skirt steak, and grilled rice balls. We got half garlic miso and half shishimi, and maybe that’s where my mistake was. They have dry and wet seasoning, and ours were both dry.
The food came out and I was expecting to eat some of the best fried chicken in the bay. I get that they’re taking a healthy route, but this was not what I expected. Not a hint of breading or batter on the chicken, and I couldn’t figure out which was garlic miso and which was shishimi because there was no flavor. All of us agreed we couldn’t taste the flavoring at all, so we were essentially just eating very plain chicken. To add insult to injury, it was tough and chewy.
The steak was alright, and the rice was really just there to accompany the chicken. Hard pass for me.

–Cash only!
–Parking is also kind of hard to find since it is street parking near Downtown Oakland.
–It takes a while for them to make your order (I waited about 15−20mins?).
–Fried chicken is nice and moist!
–Japanese bbq sauce and garlic miso were great flavors that goes well with the fried chicken.
–Try their jalapeño pear sauce that is in the bottle where they have their other condiments. Adds a nice kick to the fried chicken.
–Fried potatoes were good but small portions.
–Chicken comes with raw cabbage and is a little bit bland to eat unless you dip it in the sauce that comes with the chicken.
–Food here is a little bit on the expensive side but they say they use fresh ingredients.
–8 pieces is a good portion for sharing amongst two people.
Overall, pretty good food here. Will come back and try their curry next time.

The short: long wait for some sad chicken.
I don’t understand the good things that people say about this place.
Go to the counter where they have a menu to look at. The menu has set items and there are rotating items stuck on it. I got the dry shichimi seasoning for 4 pieces of chicken and the sesame carrot fries.
I paid in cash (that’s all they accept) and waited. And waited. 20 minutes later, my to-​go order finally was ready. (Tip: call in advance if you know what you want)
The results: overcooked chicken and not moist and tender that I’m used to for most karaage. The seasoning was barely there. I only got cabbage lettuce as a side salad and ended up using the salad dressing to make the chicken taste better. Shouldn’t the chicken taste good on its own? The sesame carrots were a disappointment. The carrots were a sloppy, wet mess. Boo.
The ambiance is very casual and very loud.
Did I order the wrong things? Oh well, moving onto finding other good eats in the area.
Side note: no taxes charged, the price listed is the price paid.

Loved this place! Perfect for a delicious, unpretentious dinners.
There were even kid bands playing the night we went.
8pc fried chicken w/​2 flavors -($ 13) mustard wasabi (not a fan) and the garlic miso (big fan). The sauce that comes with it is scrumdidlyumptious. They also have countless hot sauces available, including Pear habanero and persimmon jalapeño.
Beef tataki ($ 9) — so delicious! Perfectly cooked, would get this again.
Tako carpaccio ($ 9) — deliciously fresh, but the seasoning was a bit too salty for me. I ended up scraping some off. I would choose the Beef Tataki over this one, but it was still delicious, busy not a huge portion for what you can get.
Cute space, there’s room to sit when a band isn’t playing.
Parking in front is abundant on Saturday nights.

Prepare. Your. Tastebuds.
Because ABURA-​YA is about to smother them in delicious oil and fry them sooo good that you’ll never eat Japanese fried chicken the same way again.
We went on a mission to find this enticing-​sounding establishment (how often do you see both the ‘Japanese’ and ‘Soul Food’ categories on Unilocal together!?), braving the dark streets of Oakland at night… and albeit a little scary, it was so, so worth it!
We almost didn’t spot it at first — they lack a definitive sign but are located in the spot that says «Garden House» (deceiving but maybe it keeps the shady people away?). In any case, it’s a tight squeeze at the entrance to take a peek at the menu and get in line to order, but the space opens up more, although still narrow, towards the back of the restaurant where there is a decent amount of seating.
The menu consists of either 4 pieces of fried chicken for $ 8 or 8 pieces for $ 13, both of which come with your choice of seasoning and a salad, with the option to upgrade to additional rice and greens for $ 2. Besides the fried chicken, there are a wide variety of sides to order, such as fried carrots, fried eggplant, onigiri, tacos, potatoes, and kale-​wakame salad, which range from $ 2-​$ 6ish each. They accept CASH ONLY and tax is not added to totals.
My friend and I both ordered a 4-​piece helping of the Japanese fried chicken with the abura-​ya BBQ sauce, which was described as a mixture of BBQ, sriracha, and ketchup. And then… the magic happened! One bite into the chicken and an explosion of spicy yet sweet flavor erupted into my mouth. The coating was crispy but the chicken tender and wonderfully boneless. It was pretty much heaven in our mouths (although it left my lips on fire, but in a good way). The pieces were also MUCH more filling than we expected.
Our tastebuds continued to swoon as they encountered the fried eggplant and fish tacos next! The fried eggplant came as a whole eggplant sliced in half with an amazingly flavorful glaze on top that was almost like hot savory candy (not even kidding). And the fish tacos had delicious sauce that essentially masked the taste of the fish, which I didn’t really mind. Everything was a pretty good portion and filling for the price.
Overall, abura-​ya definitely exceeded my expectations with the flavors they were able to achieve, and I am already anticipating my next visit here… yum!

Es mejor pollo frito estiló japonés q e probado mmmmm rico delicioso les recomiendo BBQ estilo japonés , y el de miso garlic y lo recomiendo para todos akeyos q les guste el pollo frito, y además lo acen lo más orgánico. Q se puesda y no usan. Azúcar ni nada dedo de cornd sirup and gluten free lo recomiendo