IKEBUKURO: Pho-Viet 650yen Lunch and College Girls Girls Girls!

Off to Ikebukuro to test out a solidly ranked Vietnamese Spot located just 1-2 minutes from Rikkyo University (aka St. Pauls).  If you arrive after 1pm all the lunch sets are 100yen Off!  Cheehoo!

Looks like a few girls coming down in the elevator...

Arrived about 1:15 and line was only 3 deep... guess there must have been a 1pm rush for the 100 off deal.  Seems 2 workers here also served former President Clinton in Vietnam. Cool.

Learn a little Vietnamese while you wait.

Several nice selections.  Torn between the Pho and Fried Spring Roll set and the Pho with the Daily Special "D Set."

How to Vietnamese Coffee

Seems they sell some Viet items.

There it is!  Volume wise it was very conservative

The daily special was the seasoned chicken!  Almost like Filipino Chicken Adobo... very tender and flavorful

Went for the waitress recommended Beef Pho.  Very tasty broth and it hit the spot.  Hmm... How can I fault this 650yen set.

A little red seasoning.  Not spicy and it almost tasted like red shredded squid... was great with the chicken.  Plus my lunch Mango Juice!  The Indian restaurants definitely do this better... shoulda went for the Tapioca Iced Coffee.

The crowd here mainly consisted of young college girls chatting away... and the center of conversation was all boys.  I never realized how sweet Japanese girls can get so super loud and wild when in groups.  Anyways here's a video of all the girls deep in conversation next to me.

Lots of interesting businesses in this building.  All Hostess Bars?

And if you time it just right there is a great park across the street filled with Cherry Blossom Flowers.  Anyways for 650yen and a very lively atmosphere I'll definitely be back to check out some other lunch menu items after 1pm!

Shop: Pho Viet Vietnamese Restaurant

Shop Website: http://www.ikesen.net/food/ethnic_phoviet/index.html

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13002878/

Address J: 東京都豊島区西池袋3-31-15 ロイヤルプラザ 4F

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 3-31-15, Royal Plaza 4F

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IKEBUKURO: Yakiniku Gyu-En for some god awful Sundubu Chige

I'm a huuuge fan of great Korean Chige's and my stroll thru the side streets of Ikebukuro led me to this menu on the road... 650yen for Sundubu Tofu Chige.  How could I go wrong!

Ashtray... not good.

It was simply dead empty at 12:45pm on a weekday... highly unusual as most other restaruants were busy with the weekday lunch rush. Plus Rikkyo University (Saint Paul's University) was right around the corner... bad bad sign.

And my much anticipated Korean lunch arrives!

Kimchee was definitely grocery store bought... the seasoned bean sprouts just tasted all wrong, like it was just old. 

Now for the Tofu Chige.  Boiled water with red oil... it just tasted like red water.  Honestly... this is the WORST Sundubu I have had in my life.  Very little tofu, the clams still had sand in them and whats up with all the little skinny mushrooms?  

The egg that is normally cracked fresh into the Sundubu had already been boiled solid.  

The sandy clams... I have to admit they were generous with this.  Possibly 4-5 pices.

After 15 minutes I just felt sick... Did my best to finish the Kimchee but forget about the rest.  I simply got up and left. 

The attraction to this restaurant might be the all you can eat 980yen Yakiniku and nothing else.  But I did see them bring out the meat to another customer... meat was all frozen who knows where they source it from.

I am usually one to NEVER randomly walk into a restaurant without checking the foodie rankings but how could I have gotten Tofu Chige so wrong.  Wish Gordon Ramsey could visit this spot... its just sh*t.

Shop: Yakiniku Gyu-En

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13131799/

Address J: 東京都豊島区西池袋3-29-2 三原ビル 4F

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 3-29-2, 4F
MAP:

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