This is a revisit. I ordered the cold miso soup for 800 yen. I love cold miso soup, and the taste of this one makes me want to eat it regularly. It comes with rice, tofu, pickles, and sautéed burdock. It's recommended when you want to eat quickly, feel refreshed, and be satisfied.

I have used this restaurant a few times in the past and really liked it. However, when I visited recently, I felt like the quality and quantity had dropped a bit. It might be a menu issue, but the mackerel I ordered this time had a lingering fishy smell and the aftertaste was not great. The amount of fish was also a bit lacking. The broth, on the other hand, was still delicious as always. The convenience of being able to eat quickly is high.

This is a tea pickles shop inside the station. There are only counter seats and the turnover is fast. Today's side dishes are cold tofu, lotus root simmered, and pickles. You can choose the amount of rice from small, regular, and large. Today, I had cold miso soup. It's a nostalgic taste that I sometimes crave.

I personally recommend eating it in the morning rather than for lunch! Well, it's ochazuke so I was a little skeptical at first, but no complaints! The taste is delicious and it comes out quickly! Even if you're busy in the morning, ochazuke goes down smoothly. But it's a shame that it's inside the station... For people on different train lines, it costs money to enter...

I usually don't have breakfast, but since I returned from Nagoya early in the morning, I wanted to put something healthy in my stomach, so I decided to have dashi chazuke. Although it's inside the ticket gate of the Seibu Line station, I always thought it looked a bit chic and never went in, but I finally did. It was just a normal dashi chazuke, but the broth was really good. They also sell it for home use, so I would like to buy some if I have the chance.

I have started to think that this group of restaurants, based in Ikebukuro West Exit, is still a growing company. The company operates various restaurants such as "Washoku Sake En," "Dashi Chazuke En," "Nihon no Shokutaku Tsukumi," "Obon de Gohan," "Marumokitchen," and "KAISEN MART." I have experienced dining at these establishments, but there is something that doesn't quite click for me. The service, especially from the young staff, and the quality of ingredients leave something to be desired. This particular restaurant is located inside Ikebukuro Station, and my recent visit left me feeling underwhelmed. The lack of greetings upon entering, the average food quality, and the overall atmosphere made me question whether this company is keeping up with the times. The dish I ordered, the Dashi Chazuke with small shrimp, small fish, and tempura, was decent, but the excessive seasoning left me feeling thirsty. The concept of "obanzai" as a selling point in restaurants is becoming more prevalent, and it's a trend that I find concerning. As someone with a background in Kyoto cuisine, I have a different perspective on the term "obanzai" and its significance in Japanese culinary culture.

Yesterday I had tonkatsu and curry, so today for lunch I had a refreshing ochazuke. I had the "Yamagata dashi and yuba chirimen" variety. There are several ochazuke specialty shops now, but the one with multiple locations is Endake, right? Their ochazuke is carefully prepared and comforting. Japanese cuisine makes me grateful to have been born in Japan.

Seibu Ikebukuro Station has a variety of shops inside the station. I had already eaten breakfast but got hungry before reaching my destination, so I stopped by here. It's a tea-infused rice dish specialty shop. I chose the seared mentaiko (spicy cod roe) with pickled mustard greens. It's a ticket system, and once I handed my ticket to the staff and sat down, the food was served promptly. It was so fast! I was surprised by how quick it was. You can also get a refill of the broth. I didn't need a refill, but it's a nice service. If you opt for a large portion of rice, it might be a bit too much. The combination of mentaiko and pickled mustard greens is unbeatable! The tea-infused rice is delicious, and the side dishes and pickles make it a well-balanced meal.

You can enjoy a casual, not too unhealthy light meal with the convenience of fast food. While not cheap, most items are under 1000 yen. Don't expect an excessive amount of dashi, but the dashi chazuke is passable. The addition of takana and mentaiko adds a nice touch and good balance.

There is a dashi chazuke (rice with tea) shop inside Seibu Ikebukuro Station. After two years, I decided to try buying some onigiri (rice balls). I purchased the seared mentaiko (spicy cod roe) onigiri and the cabbage and sakura shrimp croquette. It cost 410 yen. The seared mentaiko onigiri was slightly larger than my thumb. The croquette had a surprisingly strong sakura shrimp flavor. It felt like I was eating sakura shrimp instead of the croquette. It's nice to try something different once in a while.

There is a tea-soaked rice shop located underground in the middle of the platform at Ikebukuro Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. The shop has a neat appearance with some glass windows. To the left of the shop, there is a place called "Rice Ball at a Japanese Restaurant" where you can take out rice balls. I arrived at around 2:30 pm on a weekend, and the shop was not too crowded, with only a few seats taken. The shop is long in shape, with the kitchen at the back, and counter seats for one person lined up in front and on the opposite side, as well as in the back right corner. As soon as you enter, there is a ticket machine on the left. The menu (all come with two small side dishes and pickles) is as follows: Sea bream dashi tea-soaked rice 960 yen, Burdock nanban with pickles 680 yen, Amami Oshima chicken rice style 750 yen, Grilled mentaiko and takana 720 yen, Kettle-boiled whitebait and Nanko plum 780 yen, Fisherman-style pickled tuna 830 yen, Small shrimp, small dried fish, and isoten 800 yen, Grilled salmon and salmon roe parent and child 850 yen, Hiya-jiru (a Miyazaki local dish) 730 yen, Half & Half tea-soaked rice (choose two menu items) 1,080 yen, Seasonal limited item: Grilled horse mackerel and plum dashi tea-soaked rice 920 yen, Nanko plum 50 yen. Additional items include Salted chicken tempura (2 pieces) 260 yen, Japanese restaurant's nikujaga croquette 250 yen, Japanese restaurant's menchi katsu 270 yen, Simple croquette with potatoes and beef 190 yen. * You can also enjoy rice balls in the shop. I decided to try the Grilled horse mackerel and plum dashi tea-soaked rice as I like horse mackerel, and the word "seasonal limited item" caught my attention. When I handed over the ticket, I was asked if I wanted a small portion (about 150g), regular portion (180g), or large portion (280g) of rice, so I chose the regular portion. The food arrived on a tray in a few minutes. The dashi broth is refillable. Grilled horse mackerel and plum dashi tea-soaked rice: Slices of horse mackerel are topped with white sesame seeds and plum meat, with greens on the side, and chopped seaweed underneath the mackerel. When you pour the broth from the teapot over it, the mackerel turns white as it cooks. The broth alone has a slightly strong bonito flavor and is very delicious. The rice is not too firm, so when you add the broth, it separates easily and is easy to eat. The horse mackerel seemed to be grilled as the menu suggests, but I would have preferred it to be grilled a bit more for a better aroma. The greens were probably boiled mizuna, with a good texture, and the nuttiness of the white sesame seeds, the fragrance of the chopped seaweed, and the acidity of the plum meat made it refreshing. The divided plate also included simmered hijiki and pickles. The simmered hijiki contained burdock, carrots, and soybeans, cooked sweetly, with mizuna added for color. The pickles were a vinegared dish with a sour taste, containing carrots, white sesame seeds, and a good aroma of perilla leaves. It was good as a palate cleanser and could also be added to the tea-soaked rice. Small side dish: Tofu with sesame sauce already poured over it. The tofu had a strong flavor and was delicious. Adding a little yuzu pepper from the table changed the taste and was also delicious. I found the regular portion of rice to be a bit light, probably because I was hungry, so I savored it with a little extra broth. The dashi broth, known for its quality, was undeniably delicious, and the rice remained light and easy to eat until the end without getting too mushy. The menu includes one small side dish, one additional dish, and pickles. Both the small side dish and pickles were good. The menu offers a variety of dishes, including regional specialties and seasonal limited items, which are quite appealing, but the slightly high prices may be due to the fact that you cannot have additional rice or side dishes. This tea-soaked rice shop is part of a chain, and although I was curious, this was my first time visiting and I learned that they operate with a ticket machine. The shop had a clean atmosphere, served quickly, and the staff, two women, were quite polite.

I had a drinking party along the Seibu Line and stopped by this restaurant on my way home. Due to time constraints, I couldn't go for ramen as the last dish, so I decided to have something light like ochazuke. I bought a ticket for the sea bream ochazuke for 960 yen and when I sat down, they asked me how much rice I wanted. I answered "large" and it was served within a few seconds, showing the efficiency of a station restaurant. I placed sea bream sashimi on the rice, poured hot broth over it, and mixed in the sesame miso. I enjoyed the richness of the broth and the change in texture of the sea bream. It's refreshing and smooth to eat, so it might be good for a light meal after drinking or when you don't have much of an appetite.

I had been curious about this tea-soaked rice restaurant for a while, and finally tried their seasonal limited edition mackerel tea-soaked rice set. The set includes tea-soaked rice with side dishes and pickles. The side dishes were tofu and lotus root kiriboshi, and the pickles were unusually delicious, which got me really excited. They served me less rice as I requested, but even just drinking the broth was delicious. I ended up soaking the rice completely in the broth by the end, but it was still very tasty.

From Dashi Chazuke En, I tried the meat and potato croquette from a Japanese restaurant, along with a pickled plum rice ball. I was curious about the "mehari" part, but it turned out to be a rice ball wrapped in green leaves, which I couldn't take my eyes off of. It was actually a pickled plum and shiso leaf rice ball. The round shape of the meat and potato croquette caught my eye, and it was quite filling. Overall, it was a satisfying meal. Thank you!

I stopped by this place because I wanted to try it before heading out for an evening appointment. The name of this shop is seen frequently among the people in Tokyo, but in Ikebukuro, it is located inside the Seibu Line underground ticket gate. There is a menu with photos displayed outside, and it seems that there are always about 10 types of dashi tea rice porridge available. Facing a busy passageway, you can catch a glimpse of the inside through the glass. The interior is designed for solo diners with a counter and about 20 chairs lined up against the wall, not really a place to relax. The system is to buy a meal ticket at the entrance, and the staff will explain the menu and how to order. Without much thought, I chose the "Sea Bream Dashi Tea Rice Porridge" (930 yen) at the top. Each option comes with two side dishes and pickles, and you can have unlimited refills of dashi. I also asked for extra rice for free. Since it was around 5:30 pm, there were only a few customers. I chose a seat in the back and the set meal was brought to me in 2-3 minutes. There are several ways to make sea bream tea porridge, and in the past, I often saw a type similar to salmon tea porridge, but nowadays, the type with sashimi mixed with sesame sauce is mainstream. This one also follows that style, with sashimi of sea bream laid on top of sesame sauce. I tried just the sashimi with sauce first, and it had a decent taste as described, not too sweet. I placed it on the rice, poured dashi from a teapot, and the fish became slightly white and changed in texture and flavor, characteristic of this type. The dashi was okay, not particularly outstanding but suitable for all types of dishes. One of the side dishes was "Simmered Hijiki with Asari Clams," which was average. The other was "Tofu with Sesame Sauce," which had a slightly sweet flavor due to the sesame sauce. The pickles were chopped "Salted Cucumber and Daikon," providing a nice salty and crunchy accent. I ordered extra rice but finished it without any leftovers. It may be a bit lacking for dinner, but considering the price, it's quite reasonable. It's not a place to savor the food slowly due to its location, but the satisfaction level is higher compared to standing soba shops, for example. It's convenient for filling a snack when you're short on time.

I ate during my train transfer. The time from ordering to serving was quick, about 3-5 minutes. The broth was delicious and easy to eat quickly, so I recommend it for those in a hurry. All the menu items looked delicious, so I would like to go back again.

There is a tea pickled shop inside the station ticket gate. The order comes out quickly and it is reasonable! As always, I ordered the sea bream tea pickled. It is always delicious whenever I eat it, so I will repeat it again.

"Sanriku natural flounder with seasoned soy sauce, koji broth tea pickles"

The place where you can earn Prince points is also good.

I had the sea bream dashi chazuke. It consisted of 5 pieces of sea bream fillet, cut into strips of about 1 centimeter wide, evenly spread across the dish. The fish was well marbled and tender, likely farmed, and tasted delicious. The sesame soy sauce was made with ground sesame seeds, also well done. Wasabi was available at the counter, resembling pre-packaged grated wasabi. The dashi base was made with bonito broth, with a hint of a distant odor similar to oden broth, possibly from kombu or another ingredient. The seasoning was just right for chazuke. I chose a large size for the rice, which had a slightly aged smell, possibly due to being prepared off-site in this station-based store. The rice texture was suitable for chazuke. Additionally, two small side dishes were served: tofu with sesame sauce and simmered hijiki seaweed. A side of chopped pickled vegetables was also included. This was my second visit since the store opened during the renovation of Seibu Ikebukuro station years ago. The consistent cleanliness of the store is a testament to their excellent hygiene practices. It was a comforting experience.