Aburaya

Adachi Hiroyuki is a punk bassist who sold produce at the Ferry Building before this. His chicken thighs sit overnight in shio koji, then go into starch and hot fat twice.

Why go

The double fry is the whole trick. Low heat first, so the meat finishes on residual heat off the oil, then a flash fry to set the crust.3 Shio koji is a fermented rice paste and it seasons and tenderizes in one step, which is why the East Bay Express found the karaage moist and flavorful, with a thin exterior crust that maintains its crunch even after being drenched in sauce.3 That review was of a pop-up running four nights a week inside a salad shop called Garden House. Janelle Bitker picked up the story for the Chronicle in 2019, by which time Hiroyuki had taken over the Stag's Lunchette lease on 17th Street and was frying about 500 pounds of chicken a day.2

Order this / avoid

Order: the chicken in two seasonings. Julia Chen's line in the Infatuation is the right instruction: If you only make one good decision today, let it be getting the fried chicken at Aburaya. A second good decision: ordering it with dry seasonings like the umami salt or garlic miso.1 The umami salt is dried shiitake, Korean black garlic, sea salt and kelp.3
Order: the vegetables. The East Bay Express rated them above the chicken, and the avocado was a Gwen from Brokaw Nursery, halved and diced in its skin with a wasabi vinaigrette pooling in the pit hole. I can't recall the last avocado I ate that was as good.3
Order: a grilled rice ball and make yourself a slider. Cut a yaki onigiri in half for buns, then karaage, Japanese barbecue sauce, wasabi slaw, tomato and avocado.3
Order the tofu even if you eat meat. It goes through the same fryer as the chicken, and the East Bay Express found it dense and nutty where fried tofu is usually dry. The vegan drumsticks are soy protein.3

What locals & experts say

The East Bay Express, reviewing the pop-up in 2014, on why the vegetables matter: Hiroyuki was selling produce for Capay Organic at San Francisco's Ferry Building market, so his employer and a few neighboring vendors supply most of his fruits and vegetables.3
Janelle Bitker, San Francisco Chronicle, 2019: It's nearly impossible to find a seat inside Aburaya, where the Clash's 'I Fought the Law' booms through the stereo and a black-and-white sign proclaims 'Punkrockers only' in big block letters.2
Bitker on the pricing, in 2019: chicken with rice and greens at $11, sides from $3, and no fuss made about the farmers' market produce underneath it.2
Jenny Oh had it in KQED's East Bay izakaya guide in 2014, when it was still Abura-ya and still a pop-up, and named all three founders.4

Good to know

The starch has two accounts. Both 2014 reviews say cornstarch, of the pop-up; the shop's own site today says potato starch.3 5
Gluten free: the East Bay Express found the chicken and almost all the sauces gluten free in 2014, and the shop says the kitchen is dedicated gluten free and nut free today. That second claim is the shop's own, so ask at the counter if it matters medically.3 5
There is a Berkeley door at 1974 Shattuck Ave, and everything above is the 17th Street room.5

Verdict

could-visit — Four pieces with the umami salt, four with the Japanese barbecue sauce, and a grilled rice ball to build a slider from. The vegetables are the surprise: the East Bay Express liked the avocado salad better than the chicken.