Food Pundits of Southern California

Yakitori at Shino in Norco

I have to give kudos to Sarah Glueck, one of our Food Pundit foodies on our Facebook group page, for coming across Shino while randomly reading new area reviews on Yelp.  Once she visited and gave her approval I figured it was something I had to try for myself.  I’ve only really experienced Japanese cuisine in the form of sushi and bento boxes so tonights trip to try out Yakitori at Shino was a real treat for me.  I also learned from Shino herself that traditional Japanese cuisine isn’t centered around Sushi usually except at holidays and special events.

Tonight was all about the skewers and boy did we end up ordering many of them tonight.  We had beef tongue skewers, garlic chicken skewers, chicken heart skewers, kobe beef skewers and about six others.  Most skewers run anywhere from $2 to $3.50 with some of the others like the kobe beef skewers priced at $7.50.  Every one of them including the chicken skin skewer and the bacon wrapped banana skewer are worth the price in flavor and quality.

Not only was this my first night to experience Yakitori but it was also my first time ordering and finishing a beer.  I’m not a huge fan of beer but I figured the $2 happy hour Sapporo was worth a shot since I was trying something new anyways.  The entire experience from the ambiance, quickly served fresh and hot food and friendly staff made our trip tonight a very satisfying decision for dinner.

Bacon Wrapped Banana Skewer

Now I know this may not sound like these two items go together but the flavors of both banana and bacon combined was absolutely amazing.  There was a lingering taste of warm banana and tasty bacon that made me want to order another one or two skewers.  This is a must have if you decide to take a trip to Shino any time soon.

Imported Chocolate Ice Cream

While my wife and Sarah decided to go with the regular ice cream options on the menu, I opted for the imported chocolate ice cream.  My wife thought I was weird when I told her I wanted to try their imported ice cream since it was chocolate but the ice cream had a very unique flavor to it.  While you can certainly taste the chocolate, it was kind of granular like sugar when I ate it.  Everyone and anyone can go to Cold Stone or any other ice cream parlor for 31 or more flavors but I’d suggest this ice cream at least once because I don’t think you will really find it anywhere else and if you do I’d love to know where.

Chicken Heart Skewer

This was my daring order from the menu.  I wasn’t honestly sure what I’d think of it but I like to expand my horizons.  The best way I can describe this is that it was kind of like eating fried gizzards… or if you prefer… It taste like chicken! Nothing at all was bad tasting about the chicken heart skewer, in fact it had a good texture and taste to it.

Other Daring Options

Sarah had ordered the chicken liver skewer and the chicken skin skewer.  I tried both of them and found that I really enjoyed the liver one as it kind of reminded me of my childhood when my mom made liver.  The chicken skin skewer took a little more getting used to but I enjoyed the crispy outer crust on one side and the soft skin on other side.  While we didn’t order any, you also can have octopus skewers and squid skewers if you want to give those a go.

Shino is located off of Hidden Vally in Norco in the little strip mall where CVS is located and is open for dinner Monday – Saturday starting at 5pm and closing at 11:30.  Their exact address is 1161 Hidden Valley Parkway, #107 Norco, CA 92860.

Here are some of the photos that we took tonight and from around the Internet.