Popular Izakaya established in the 1940’s with two shops, the one described here on the west side of Ikebukuro station and a smaller one on the east side. Open from 7 a.m. !

Politely peeking through the entrance door at around 3 p.m., I found the 1st floor counter fully packed. The greeting from the young lady behind the counter was a simple ”今いっぱい” (Ima ippai / its full). To be exact, her face looked more like “hey you alien bugger, are you blind, its full, hit the road !” Whispering a すみません I backed out of the door and considered my options on this sunny afternoon. Finally I got attracted by the signboard at the door, reading 本日料理全品半額 (Honjitsu ryōri zenpin hangaku / Today all food half price). As my demand for the 1st floors hospitality was already fully furnished, I decided to try my luck at the 2nd floor, which fortunately opened at 3p.m. and was almost empty. Here I heard the most unexpected word いらしゃいませ (Irashaimase / Welcome !) from a smiling lady behind the counter. What a difference.

The food menu is big, around 100 different dishes, from raw, cooked and grilled fish to Yakitori, Tempura, Nikomi, salads, prices mostly around 400 Yen. A signboard on the wall explains, that every 8th of the month the food costs only half. Lucky me !

I had 馬刺 (Basashi / raw horse meat) (600 Yen), 厚揚げ (Atsu-age / deep fried tōfu) (350 Yen), 天ぷら盛り合わせ (Tenpura moriawase / assorted tempura) (600 Yen) and つくね焼き (Tsukune-yaki / skewered minced chicken) (300 Yen), taste - well, so so, but on this 8th of the month no reason to complain. I liked the cheese crackers.... (400 Yen). The drink menu is short, beer, Hoppy, ダイヤ shōchū, shōchū sour, one standard sake, one low-grade Nama-sake, some soft drinks. The thing about this place is that everything seems to be average.  The food, the drinks, the atmosphere....etc.  Whatever you order, you get exactly what you would expect, nothing special but nothing to complain either. Altogether, although quite reasonably priced, Fukuro is probably not going to become one of my regular places.

Food prices indicated above are the regular prices.

1 min walk from Ikebukuro station west exit. 1st floor U-shaped counter for about 50 guests, 2nd floor U-shaped counter and some tables for about 50 guests, 3rd floor tables and tatami floor seating area for about 50 guests. 2nd and 3rd floor open from 3 p.m. on Sundays, National Holidays and the 8th of the month, on other days open from 4 p.m. Toilets Japanese style, separate.

Beer (633ml bottle): 450 Yen