On Sunday, I went to the cinema with my family at Cinema Sunshine in the morning to watch an Indian movie. It was crowded because it was also the last day for One Piece. Lunch places were also packed, so we decided to go to a chain restaurant that serves fugu dishes. It was my first time having lunch there. I ordered the tiger fugu tempura set. The two pieces of tiger fugu tempura were deliciously crispy. There wasn't much meat to eat off the bones, but the main part of the meal was the fugu rice bowl. It consisted of boiled fugu, fugu sashimi, pickled vegetables, grated yam seaweed, and a raw egg yolk on top. Pouring the broth over the rice and mixing it all together created a delicious yam and egg rice bowl. It also came with a fugu skin salad, pickles, and miso soup. Considering the price of fugu, it was a good deal.

We used it with our family on New Year's Day. Torafugu Tei is a chain restaurant, so it offers consistent quality, and the famous "pikupiku" torafugu was moving lively that day as well. My stomach was tired of New Year's dishes and heavy food, so I was healed by the perfect taste. The swimming torafugu course costs 6,680 yen.

I visited "Torafugu-Tei Ikebukuro Higashi-guchi Store" around 12:00 on a certain day in August 2021. Located about a 3-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station, they seemed to offer a lunch menu, so I decided to go in. The restaurant had private rooms, but I could hear other customers as well. I sat alone at a table in a private room and ordered the "Tessa Gozen" for ¥1,380 from the lunch menu. It was served after about 10 minutes. The set included fugu rice, swimming tessa (thinly sliced blowfish sashimi), small side dishes, pickles, and miso soup. I started by tasting a few pieces of tessa, wrapping them in grated daikon radish and green onions. It was a joy to savor blowfish for lunch. The fugu rice had boiled fugu meat, skin, grated yam, seaweed, egg yolk, green onions, and kombu on top of the rice. I mixed in the sauce and tried it. The delicate balance of flavors was enjoyable for any Japanese person. The grated yam enveloped the rice, blowfish, and sauce, creating a gentle taste. The sauce on the blowfish skin side dish, along with pickles, complemented the fugu rice. The portion was not large, so I finished it quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed the fugu lunch at Torafugu-Tei, although the price may seem high for a regular lunch. It might be reasonable for business meetings or special occasions. Nevertheless, the blowfish rice was a dish worth trying at least once.

Today I had two meals in one day! Hello, this is Okahiro! I went to a fugu course in Ikebukuro. ● Getting to the restaurant: 5 minutes walk from Ikebukuro East Exit. ● MENU: In addition to the fugu course, I ordered grilled shirako and shirako tempura. The hot and melting shirako was amazing! The fugu was prepared with kombu and dashi. The finale was a fantastic fugu feast, including a delicious porridge. The dessert of kinako (roasted soybean flour) ice cream in a wafer shell was also delicious.

Located about a 3-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station East Exit on the JR Yamanote Line, Torafugu Tei Ikebukuro Higashi-guchi is a specialty restaurant for swimming fugu dishes. I usually visit the Komagome branch for lunch, but this time I visited the Ikebukuro Higashi-guchi branch for a fugu full course dinner. First, we were served fugu skin, fugu salad, and boiled fugu, followed by the delicious sashimi. The transparent beauty of the sashimi was outstanding, and the amount of grated daikon radish was just right! Of course, I enjoyed the sashimi as an adult. Next, we had fugu tempura and fugu sushi, and the main dish was grilled fugu! Since it was freshly prepared, the fugu was still moving slightly. The special spicy sauce matched the fugu meat perfectly and it was delicious! Grilling it over charcoal was also great. Another main dish was the fugu hot pot. The fresh and tender fugu meat dipped in ponzu sauce was incredibly tasty! We finished with ochazuke, and enjoyed the incredibly delicious full course meal! I will have to visit the Komagome branch for dinner next time.

I thought about trying fugu for a change, but the usual restaurant I go to is far away. So, I looked it up and found a chain restaurant in Ikebukuro. I knew about fugu chain restaurants, but I had never actually been to one, so I decided to go out of curiosity. It's located on the street past P'PARCO in Ikebukuro. It's on the right after turning the corner. The surrounding area is the entertainment district of East Ikebukuro, with pachinko parlors, adult entertainment venues, and bars. The interior of the restaurant is designed like a traditional Japanese izakaya with private rooms for each group of customers. The lunch menu is available even on Saturdays. The lunch set with fugu sashimi and fugu tempura for 2000 yen is a great deal, but the low price made me a bit skeptical. Well, it's a chain restaurant, so maybe that's just how it is. My girlfriend couldn't eat the raw egg, grated yam, and pickled seaweed that came with the set, so we had to skip the lunch set and ordered the fugu sashimi and tempura a la carte. The texture of both the sashimi and tempura was soft and almost like organs, lacking firmness in the flesh. It embodied the principle of "you get what you pay for" in terms of taste. The fugu skin we ordered separately still had a normal taste, but the cutting was sloppy and the flesh wasn't properly separated. The recommended bowl, while tasty, had almost no relation to the taste of fugu. According to my girlfriend, it felt like we mainly ate the garnishes, especially the green onions.

I saw this restaurant on TV and confirmed online that there is one in Ikebukuro as well, so I went there right away. I had the lunch set, and the sashimi and fried chicken were delicious. The rice with fugu and grated yam, topped with dashi broth, was also very tasty. I was so hungry that I ended up eating it all quickly without savoring the flavors. What a waste. I would like to come back next time for dinner and try the course menu.

I was taken to a fugu restaurant after a long time. It's located in the direction of Otsuka when walking from Ikebukuro East Exit along Meiji Street. I've been to Torafugu-tei in Shinjuku a few times, but it's my first time in Ikebukuro, and it's been over 10 years since I last had fugu (lol). Of course, there's no doubt that I indulged in fugu sashimi luxuriously (lol). Is it delicious? I don't go there often myself, do I?

Tokyo's number one foods operates a chain of blowfish restaurants. You can easily enjoy blowfish here. The company also operates its own aquaculture business and has its own processing plant, so they are responsible from upstream to downstream, which increases the level of trust. It seems that even someone in their 20s with about 4 years of experience can become a store manager, so the level of customer service may vary depending on the store. The customer service in Ikebukuro is good, but the speed of food service was slow, taking almost 3 hours, so points deducted. For company dinners, year-end parties, welcome parties, etc., this restaurant may be convenient as it offers a luxurious feel with blowfish.

The chain fugu restaurant used to be everywhere but I had never tried it before. I finally visited for the first time and saw tanks with fugu swimming in them at the entrance of each store. Fugu are bred to be non-toxic but there is still a risk, so only licensed individuals can handle them. You can't eat the ovaries or liver, but you can enjoy the shirako. The service by the female staff in the private rooms is well-educated and attentive. The torafugu course with fried fugu is delicious. The sashimi was a bit dry but easy to eat since it was served in individual portions. The grilled shirako was amazing. The hot pot and porridge were also great. It's nice to visit such restaurants during the winter.

【6th Visit】Consistently delicious as always. I think this place is the best in the neighborhood. Lately, I've been ordering the course menu plus an additional grilled blowfish. The sauce is amazing. Grilling it while dipping it back in the sauce enhances the flavor even more. The skin is rich in collagen, and when grilled crispy, it's incredibly delicious. High in protein and plenty of vegetables, it's the best. Will definitely visit again.

During the half-price campaign, I visited this restaurant for the first time. The fugu shirako was exquisite, but it's a shame I can't drink alcohol. The course meal filled me up completely.

After eating at Fugutessa in Ikebukuro, I also tried the tetchiri. The shirako was delicious, with a creamy texture inside. Be careful, it's hot! The fried chicken was also tasty. I confirmed once again that fugu is delicious.

A restaurant where you can eat fugu at a reasonable price. It is farm-raised but still good quality.

I had it on the course menu! The blowfish tempura is delicious♪

It's average.