OIZUMIGAKUEN: Sushi MaruTatsu... but the wrong branch!

After a great evening at the 妙福寺の御会式 festival in Oizumi my friend Kenta and I were off to close out the night with some Sushi.

This is part of a great 3 shop family of Sushi/Seafood restaurants in Oizumi and the one I absolutely love is http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2011/12/oizumi-gakuen-maru-tatsu-revisited.html but unfortunately we wandered into this one. 

L shaped counter seats.

The otoshi... automatic appetizer... believe it was seasoned tuna.

Always good to dine with a fellow camera buff... I'm usually the only guy snapping away at everything.

The tuna was cold... I don't think they this frozen tuna thaw properly before serving it.  Impression was lackluster and it shows in the very low 3.00 foodie ranking.  http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132103/13114977/

Yes this is me.

I won't be back but it sure is a nice option to eat sushi after a long night of festivals.

Shop: MaruTatsu Yumeria Branch

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132103/13114977/

Address J: 東京都練馬区東大泉5-43-1 ゆめりあフェンテＡ館

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Higashi Oizumi 5-43-1, Yumeria Fuente 2F

MAP:

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IKEBUKURO: Sushi Izakaya Koi-Ke for 100yen Draft Beers! What a deal...

Very little to be said... How often do you run into 100yen Beer shop in Tokyo :).

This was our Nijikai after CONA Pizzeria...  

Food is reasonable and will hit the spot...nice variety of stuff

Cheers... 100yen x 3.  Not too shabby.

Winged Gyoza 280yen

Taco Yaki 280yen

And HI-Balls were 100 yen... or you can get a double for 150yen.

NOTE: Fridays and days before National Holidays are these prices.  180yen for draft beers/sours and high-balls are 150yen.

Negi-toro was good. 380yen

Very basic interior but this shop had 5-6 floors so plenty of seating!  FYI: At Midnight they top levels close and everyone is asked to move to the 1st floor.

And 2 hours later... it came out to 1,000yen per person.

Beware:  This sign says "No College Students."  As you know Japanese college students are normally forced to drink until they pass out by their seniors (Senpai's).  

Overall an excellent place to have a few drinks and a few small dishes after dinner...  

Shop: Sushi Izakaya KOIKE

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13133702/

Address J: 東京都豊島区東池袋1-20-18

Address E:  Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-20-18

MAP: 

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OIZUMI GAKUEN: Maru-Tatsu (REVISITED)... inexpensive with generous sizes! Worth the visit.

Arrived at a very very early 5pm for some great Sushi... this shop is backed by a fish wholesaling company so prices are incredibly reasonable and fish so amazingly fresh...

We walked into the Tencho (Head Sushi Chef) preparing 3 large baskets of sushi for a year end party going on upstairs.

First the Otoshi... comes automatically when you order alcohol.  

The boss-man...  

Only 50yen for this... kobiko.

Chu-Toro 270yen.

Maguro 130yen.

Crab 110yen.

Hot Ichi-Go Nihon-Shu (One Bottle) 270yen... good for about 4-5 mini cups.

Seaweed soup~...

Our neighbors who spoke great English asked me if I wanted to take a pic of his fish :).

Mari spotted this moving Abelone (in Japanese Awabi)... got a nudge to start taking pics or a video.

Our Tuna-Cheek... took about 30minutes to bake over the grill and only 680yen!

We also talked to 3 people in the far end of the counter...  one of them was a Japanese gentleman in his 50's with a PHD from UC Berkeley... In Japan you never really know who's sitting next to you in a friendly sushi counter environment.

All seats provide a great view of the sushi chefs at work.

Mari's been camera shy lately but a quick iPhone pic... will be back again.

Ask for a free "Agari" as with all sushi shops and you'll get a nice hot cup of green tea!

Its been 6 months since but my last visit but I'll be back again in 2012!

For shop details goto my previous entry:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.com/2011/06/oizumi-gakuen-marutatsu-sushi-amazing.html