TAMAGO-KEN IKEBUKURO — Restaurant in Tokyo

I visited this place around 1:30 pm on a Sunday, right after the lunch rush. There was virtually no queue, as most people had just finished eating. The only line was for the vending machine, and we waited about 5 minutes for our turn to order, followed by another 5-10 minutes for the food to arrive.

The menu wasn't extensive, and I opted for the Omurice with Beef Hayashi. The Omurice was good, with proper textures, but it was on the sweeter side. The Hayashi sauce looked heavy, almost like Rendang, which, as an Indonesian, led me to expect a rich, spicy flavor. However, it lacked that depth, making the table condiments all the more useful.

The condiments on the table included black pepper, ketchup, Tabasco, and a free flow of crispy fried garlic, which added a nice crunch to the otherwise mushy Omurice. They also offered a jar of sweet pickles, including sliced radish, bell pepper, and other pickled veggies. The pickles were slightly sweet but needed a bit more tang to perfectly counterbalance the heavy Omurice. The set also included a soup.

I had their glass-bottled oolong tea, which was refreshingly better than the usual oolong tea, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Overall, it was worth the 1500 yen price tag, and the regular size was sufficient for me. The location is convenient, right in the center of Ikebukuro, not far from the popular Kikanbō Ramen.

Would I go there again? Yes. Would I wait over 30 minutes if there were a queue? Probably not. The restaurant was adequately staffed with four employees (two cooks and two servers) managing 15 seats. There are seven counter seats and three tables (two for two persons and one for a group of four). Ps: forgot to take a pic since it was hot outside and I wanted a quick in-and-out no...

Beef Hamburg Omurice @ Kanda Tamagoken Ikebukuro

You generally can’t go wrong with Omurice if you like it, and this place offers quite a wide selection of bases being an omurice-specialty store and all.

The available bases are Hashed Beef, Tomato, Cream and the flavor of the season. Of course, I went with Hashed Beef.

The rice was tangy and slightly sweet, the hamburg was super smooth and flavorful. Meaty and savoury. Adding the cheese gave it more Oomph, and the egg helps to meld it together, Very smooth, it’s a trait that Omurice should share, but the variety here is great.

They also offer complementary consomme soup and pickles, which is nice.

There’s additional condiments like garlic chips, black pepper or more ketchup if you would like to engance the flavor of your omurice, but it’s delicious enough on it’s own. Might drop by to try the beef stew next time! Great meal, or it could be my...

Small cozy area to have delicious traditional Japanese omurice. We got the recommended hamburg steak + beef stew and a beef stew with large rice and cheese for sharing.

When seated we were given a nice tasty and umami soup. It had bits of meat like bacon and it also had onion which made it very nice to start of the meal and warm the stomach. Next, the food came really fast. In terms of taste it was very good, very tomatoey, umami and delicious. The beef hamburg steak was very soft and tender like biting into a cloud. The beef stew tore apart very easily and nice and fatty.

Only main issue were 2 flies. One kamikazes one of my shirt which was unfortunate, fortunately there was alcohol spray and plenty of tissue. The pepper grinder was also a little tiring to use having to keep pressing it. Overall, really good and delicious food for a...