NAKANO: ButaYama that super heavy ramen similar to Jiro Style aka Jiro-Kei! Its sooo filling and sooo tasty! (iPhone 12 Mini)

It was my birthday weekend and I made an exception to eat a wonderful bowl of hella fatty lardy tasty ramen with chunky noodles! At the entrance there is a pre-payment vending machine.

Chef will ask your preference to customize the ramen toppings.

1. Garlic 2. Veggie Volume 3. Fatty Lard volume 4. Extra flavoring.

Large L shaped counter seating...

Video of all the goodness of this heavy calorie ramen!

Here it is! Customized as... Little bit of Garlic, Little Bit Veggies 150 grams, Large portion of flavorful fatty lard! I didnt ask for the soup to be super flavorful as they just put a scoop of seasoning inside. Its super flavorful as is. 

2 Huge Chunks of CharSiu Pork! Soooo meaty!

Super thick chewy noodles... LIKE!

OMG! Sooo good yet soo bad for anyone on a diet.

So as for the new pricing system.  The basic ButaYama ramen is 900 yen for 125 grams of noodles or 950 yen for 250 grams.  125g is just too little for me and 250g too much! I usually max out at 180-200grams. This night I paid the extra 50 yen but did have left overs.  Since its always rather busy it may take about 10-15 minutes until the chef asks you about the way you want to customize.  They didn't speak Japanese to me so you can just say FUTSUU to the chef when he calls on you... which means standard topping.  Standard is 300 grams of boiled veggie topping, normal volume of fatty lard topping and normal flavoring.  Id probably skip the garlic topping as it can be quite overwhelming. 

Check out my February 2020 entry just before Covid and Ukraine.  Prices were much cheaper.

https://tokyobelly.blogspot.com/2020/02/nakano-station-butayama-pig-mountain.html

Restaurant: ButaYama Nakano Branch

Restaurant J: 豚山 中野店

Homepage: https://www.butayama.com/

Tabelog Foodie: https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1319/A131902/13235889/

Address j: 東京都中野区中野5-54-4

Address E: 5 Chome-54-4 Nakano, Nakano City, Tokyo 164-0001

Google MAP: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Hq6PQxNKqfHuTm7E7

ラーメン, 二郎系ラーメン, 中野駅, Japan, Japanese, Ramen Jiro, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, ramen, tsukemen, Nakano Station, lunch, dinner, iphone 12 mini

IKEBUKURO: Agalico Shokudo for lots of nice Thai lunch options.. 90% ladies! Thai music on the BGM... I wanna visit Bangkok sooon! (iPhone 12 mini)

Wandering the semi-red light district of Ikebukuro during lunch in search of a spot... peeked inside Agalico Shokudo and it was a full house! Nearly all women!

Lunch Menu with lots of lone and combo dishes.

I love Singapore Chicken Rice so had to go for the Khao Man Gai 888 yen! Luck 8!

Free Jasmin Tea.

Drink Menu

Dinner Menu

This Thai singer was playing the entire time. 

So many sauces for toppings! I tried a few

For Lunch you can choose S, M, L or Extra Large rice portion for free.

Here is my Khao Man Gai on a bed of Jasmine rice.

Honestly it just hit the spot... parts of the rice were a bit hard but I just put it into my soup.

The slightly sweet sauce that came with the dish.  Overall the lunch was just ok... Id probably recommend one of the combo meals with Thai curry. Anyways the interior was totally like a little Thai outdoor food stand. Kinda cool. Only 1 chef and 1 waitress so be a little patient.

Restaurant: Agalico Shokudo - Asian Yatai

Restaurant J: 東南アジア屋台 アガリコ食堂

Homepage: https://agalico-syokudo.jp/

Tabelog Foodie: https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13280806/

Address J: 東京都豊島区池袋2-42-1

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Ikebukuro 2-42-1

Google MAPS: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eFDLBBYkS82Y7tkNA

タイ料理、アジア・エスニック、居酒屋, 池袋駅, Japan, Japanese, Thailand, lunch, dinner, izakaya, bar, tokyobelly, yelp, iphone 12 mini, green curry, foodie

IKEBUKURO: Resort Restaurant Ho Chi Mihn for a bowl of lunch Pho! The meat was soooo tough... why!!! (iPhone 12 Mini)

Finally I had some Pho... its been years.  

Lots of items on the menu. Torn between the curry and Pho.

Unfortunately I got the Pho! BOOOO!

Ordering is done by this QR code and menu is multi lingual!

Here we go! Pho included spring rolls, small salad, slice of lemon and a nice desert.

Ordered my Pho with Pakuchi cilantro topping.

The rolls!

The tasty desert!

Dude! This meat was soooo tough... it was like trying to eat a piece of leather.  I did not eat any of it.

The Pho soup had very little flavor or depth... it was just very plain as possible.

Drink 100 yen extra.

Lots of western hits on the BGM

Restroom was very spacious and clean.

Overall the Pho was just not very memorable.  But the staff was extremely attentive and the interior sooo nice!  I would suggest eating something other than the Pho. 

Restaurant: Resort restaurant HO CHI MINH

Restaurant J: リゾートレストラン ホーチミン

Homepage: https://ho-chi-minh.goodone88.com/

Tabelog Foodie: https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13295882/

Address J: 東京都豊島区西池袋3-30-1

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 3-30-1

Google MAPS: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LNAoQg4P7ZX8wNt78

ベトナム料理, 池袋駅, フォー, Japan, Japanese, Vietnam, Pho, Tokyo, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, ikebukuro station, lunch, dinner, 

IKEBUKURO: Yobocho for some great 1,000 yen western and Japanese lunch options! Very flavorful Hamburger steak lunch plate!! (Pixel 7 Pro)

 

I never have lunch in Ikebukuro but this day a few friends invited me out to give Yobocho a try!  There is a vending machine style dispenser so just put in your money and push the pictured lunch item you want.

The lunch options.  Give you ticket to the waitress then wait in line until a spot opens up on the counter or the few table seats.  You will be called on in order.

Counter seating! Quite the volume for 1,000 yen.  Tonjiru soup, hamburger steak and rice

Hamburger has a sunny side up egg on top and smothered in very flavorful sauce.

Misoshiru or Tonjiru... Tonjiru all day folks! 

And there were lots of veggies on the hot steel plate.

The hamburger steak on this hot skillet keeps grilling and grilling... I would suggest cutting it in half and placing it on the plate of rice. It started to get a bit over cooked.  FYI! But overall its a quick in and out spot in Ikebukuro. If you go in a small group there is a possibility you will sit separately.  

Restaurant: Yobocho Ikebukuro Branch

Restaurant J: 洋庖丁 池袋店

Tabelog Foodie: https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13114697/

Address J: 東京都豊島区池袋2-41-6 第1ジャンポールビル1F

Address E: 〒170-0014 Tokyo, Toshima City, Ikebukuro, 2 Chome 41-6

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iV4kswgkaPYacPTCA

食堂、洋食、ハンバーグ, 池袋駅 Japan, Japanese, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, google pixel 7 pro, cheap, lunch, family restaurant, western 洋食、ランチ、安い、コスパ

KOENJI: Tokyo Kebab has one of the juiciest Kebabs in Tokyo! Friendly female chefs! Saw this spot on MilkyPuff Twitch stream.

I have walked by Tokyo Kebab in Koenji sooo many times but with all the foodie options in this town I just never bothered to try.  But after watching Milkypuff stream here on Twitch I thought I needed to try!

Rainy day but you can normally sit at these bottled beer containers.

Doner Kebab!

I got the Avocado topping but was just the paste version and not fresh. BUT a few bites and this ting was soooo juicy! Mix spice sauce very flavorful... I gotta say this is one of the better Kebab spots in Tokyo!  

If in Koenji with a few coins in your pocket go go! Its a great spot for people watching. Or you can walk a bit and try a kinda tiny kebab at Turkish Grand Kebab  https://tokyobelly.blogspot.com/2023/04/numabukuro-on-my-walk-i-passed-by-line.html

I went back a week later for the standard kebab with pickles... There was so much mix sauce.  Im the type of person that eats something until Im tired of it... think my days are numbered here.

Restaurant: Tokyo Kebab Koenji Branch

Restaurant JP: 東京ケバブ 高円寺店

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1319/A131904/13253594/

Address J: 東京都杉並区高円寺南3-58-21 KKビル 1F

Address E:3 Chome-58-21 Koenjiminami, Suginami City, Tokyo 166-0003

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eiYzq8ihBKDxCeNE6

トルコ料理, 高円寺駅, Tokyo Kebab 高円寺店, Japan, Japanese, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, iphone 12 mini, cheap, lunch, dinner, turkish, wraps,