A Perfect Day in Ikebukuro, Tokyo

A Perfect Day in Ikebukuro, Tokyo

From early morning bakeries to ramen, penguins, and hidden food courts, welcome to Iikbukuro, Tokyo’s neighborhood that has everything, but somehow still flies under the radar. Hey guys, welcome back to Tavi E. Today we’re continuing our Tokyo neighborhood series right here in Iikbukuro. Today we’re spending the entire day here eating, exploring, and finding hidden gems that you might not find by yourself. If you missed our first episode in Coi, which was a fantastic day. Make sure to check that out later after you watch this video. The link is in the description. So, we are both hungry. We’re going to start with breakfast. You ready? Yes. Let’s go. Let’s go. So, it’s early morning. Our day starts at Aras Air. Their theme is airline. Their bread image is the legendary inflight meal of the airline. My bread is milk France with fig. This is a fig bread and inside it’s a very beautiful milk cream. And of course the day should start with coffee. Oh, by the way, this place is a terrace seat of hotel. You can eat here after you purchase this bread. It’s located across the street of this bakery and buy your drink inside of this hotel. This one is a hard type of bread with a very nice wheat taste. And this cream is not overly sweet buttery taste. The fig has a nice contrast with this cream. So I decided to get a hot matcha latte. Of course, by the way, this is not our first time here. We love this spot in iiko. It’s probably my favorite spot for breakfast or coffee time because look at it. It’s just so peaceful and nice. I feel like I’m in France, not in the middle of Iikbukuro. I got the banana bossto. It is a uh loaf of cacao bread with almond paste and banana and drizzled with pistachio and it is uh baked. So it looks amazing. M. That is wonderful. It’s not only banana e, it’s also buttery probably from the almond cream and the bread itself is actually very soft. Delicious. Like butter caramel banana all in one. I also had to get a pumpkin scone because it is uh autumn right now. And it looks so beautiful. That’s a really good scone. The texture is perfect. It is crumbly but not dry. A lot of walnuts on the inside and a couple of pumpkin seeds on the top. So, we have a pretty full day today. We want to show you guys why I is a really fun place to spend the day. Another fun activity in Ikibukuro is checking out all the shops and game arcades. We especially like visiting Sunshine City. It’s a pretty big mall with restaurants, shops, and we also love the aquarium here. This aquarium is very unique. Yeah. You can see the penguin. There’s an outdoor area which makes this aquarium really special. They are flying. Yeah. Above your head. Um this was your first time. Yeah. I I’ve been to this aquarium like five, six times and I really like it. They’re even open at night time. Even the inside it’s really nice. A lot of really nice displays of tropical fish, river fish, all kind of fish, all kind of sea life. And it’s a great way to spend an hour or two in Iki Bukuro. We also checked out the Gachapon place. It’s the largest gachapon department store in the world, I should say. Yeah, this place was recommended to us by Caroline and Stephanie, our friends in Australia. Miniature school bag collection. 400 uh 500 yen. You have Which color do you want? Uh blue. You want the blue one? Did you get blue? Oh, Chichi found. What is that? Oh, Japanese traditional Korea. I want the kitty editico glass. Wow. What do you want? I want the glass. Yes. Okay, let’s go check it out. Okay, let’s see what Satoshi got. What color is that? Green, maybe. Like I think it’s a color that you would actually buy in real life. Does it open? Can you put something in it? Oh. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You can I got the one I wanted glass. My ado glasses comes in a box like this. Oops. Like that. You know what? Good. I have a good idea. Can you put this in your bag? There we go. Also, there’s a ninja which is kind of like a indoor theme park. It’s kind of cool. Uh they have some haunted attractions right now as well as a gyoza park. You can try like eight different yoza from eight different places. We used to go there often. There’s a Pokemon center. Yes. And shop. Scoopy shop. And also for admission fee, you can go up to the observatory in Sunshine City building. Uh I think it’s like the 60th floor. 60th floor. Yeah. This used to be like the tallest building in a long time ago. So here is my favorite spot along the green odori green street. There is a in town living. It’s a street furniture area. Street furniture. Yes. Yeah. Um, lot of places to sit actually, including like a bar looking area and then one area that looks like a train station. Yes, I like that. That’s your favorite spot. But, you know, it’s nice to see this because in Tokyo, it’s pretty difficult to find place to sit in the middle of the city. True. Yeah. So, a while back, we did a video on Jidori, which is the local chicken. We went to three different places and one of those places was a ramen shop called Sage and it was so good that we wanted to come back and so we are back here at Sage in Iikbukuro uh specializing in ramen made with local chicken. We’re going to try something different today. They have like special ramen here. Uh seasonal specials um some creative ones as well. So really looking forward to this place. This place the chef used to be a French chef. Exactly. That’s why his ramen is different from your typical neighborhood ramen shop. So, the last time we were here, we had the basic Shyu and Shio ramen, and they were amazing. Uh, this is their signature bow. So, if you want to see that, we left a link to that video in the description below. This one, I got the Niboshi ramen. So, the broth is fish. It’s noodles topped with um chimsaba mackerel, usually marinated in like a vinegar. But this time they’re marinating in white wine vinegar and that is on top of the ramen and torched a little bit. And um really looking forward to trying this. It’s a clear soup. Once again, it is a fish broth and that is the shimsaba on the top. The macro marinated the white wine vinegar. Here on the side you have some uh sliced green onions, the white part and maybe that’s parallel leaf. And then you got some grilled mushrooms here. All right, here we go. So, first let’s take a sip of the soup. Look at that. So, once again, this is not chicken. It is fish. I’m so excited. Wow. M. That is pretty amazing. So, I’ve had fishbased ramen before, but this one I feel it’s richer and it’s not as fishy. It’s not as strong fish taste as I’m used to. So, it’s really well balanced. Okay, so I’m going to mix this up. Oh, we got some uh red onions in there as well. And then this is the sabah, the marinated uh mackerel. Oh wow. M. Oh my god. So good. A little bit sour. That is delicious. So, let’s try the ramen. Oo, look at that. Um, do you notice that the the noodles are a little bit different? It looks like there’s like um What is that? It’s like I I see some brown specks on the noodles. M. So smooth. Perfect. Perfect texture. And the noodles really absorb the the soup. You can really taste the flavor of the mushrooms when you add it to this um broth. This is amazing. My toipam basil came and immediately I noticed the beautiful aroma in basil and garlic. This beautiful white foam just seasoned with garlic. Oh my. It’s so beautiful. Yes, it’s chicken soup. So it’s ramen soup but same time beautiful this garlic and basil taste. It’s unlike ramen soup. It’s the combination is fabulous. This is a chicken meat vegetables and mushroom noodles are different from shinichi one. It’s a flat type m. It comes with this beautiful basil taste so nicely. What’s a different experience of ramen? And I also noticed that in the basil one, there’s two type of chicken. You got the regular like chicken shashu and the other one is like a balentine. It’s like um uh it’s chicken with a basil on the inside. Oh yeah. Really delicious. So glad that we came back. Man, the ramen at this place, Savage, you guys. Wow. It’s out of this world. It is on another level. Amazing. The my ramen board the ka is green because it’s basil. But there is a story. The white phone is snow on the green. Yes. That’s why it’s for winter. It’s a seasonal bowl of ramen. This ramen place is kind of hidden away. So it is definitely a hidden gem. Only people who know about it know about it. So now you guys know about this place. So, next time you’re in Tokyo or in the Ikimuku area, make sure you check out Sage and let the owner know that you heard it from us. After it’s dessert time, we came to Pik Cafe, a very nice grape cafe. We tried once and we fell in love this grape. This is a crepe. Today, we chose berry mascar pony grape. M. Sakuto and they are using special fermented butter from France. Aromatic nice butter aroma. Lots of berries, strawberries, cranberries, muscapon. So we got the crepe as a drink set. We decided to share a hot tea. I believe this is a Earl Grey. That’s good. This place is also famous for their gelatoes. And this is the strawberry marble gelato single scoop. M. Wow. It’s actually kind of um creamy but slushy at the same time. You can taste the the acidity from the strawberry. They’re actually real strawberry in here. It’s creamy and it’s not overly sweet. The crepes here are fantastic. It’s actually one of the better crepes we had in Tokyo. So after that ramen and dessert, this is the perfect place to sit back, chill, and relax for about an hour. This place is Dadeek at the second floor of Da Gate building. This place is great for me because I can see the trains very clearly. This building is built just above the safe railway road and next of the save IO station. We can see JR and save very nicely. If you want to do what we do, I suggest you buy a cup of coffee at the cafe downstairs on the first floor, Sutahiko Coffee. They have really good coffee. They also have decaf as well. And just sit here and relax until Satoshi gets bored of watching the trains. All right, we’re going to take you guys to a wellestablished shop here in Ikuburo. Yes, you can find those shops here as well. This shop is called Iikbukuro Miharo. This shop is established 1937. It’s about 90 years. Yeah. Very long history. And they specialize in wagashi or Japanese sweets. Uh they we they have two things that we love to get there. So this is the iikukuro monaka. This is their best seller. And this is my favorite, the shiobe or salted rice crackers. In one package, there are five rice crackers. And these are so good. Look at the texture. First of all, it’s very, very thin. Incredibly thin. And then the texture is bumpy. But that’s what gives it this really interesting texture. M. So crunchy. So so crunchy. And it does taste a little bit like soy sauce, but it tastes like salt. That’s why they’re called salt rice crackers. The salt flavor is slightly sweet. Naturally sweet, I should say. So so good. I love this so much. So this iiko miharo is famous for monaka. Monaka is a sweet sweet asibbean paste inside of wave house. And this is that this is called iikuro monaka. The iikuro the mascot is owl. Owl is called in Japanese. So iikuro iikukuro. Did you understand? This is the monaka. Look at this cute shape. It’s out. Sorry, we have to Sorry. Break off the head. Bumpy type as giving paste inside. M nice texture. Soft but little bit crispy. And it’s a bean paste. Just right sweetness. And this is bumpy type. The texture is good. Perfect matches with this wafers. M m. This is very good. We are now walking street. This street is very unique. Yes, a lot of locals call this the real Chinatown of Tokyo. There’s a Chinatown in Yokohama, but we think this one’s more authentic. Lots and lots of authentic Chinese restaurants here. Uh Chinese supermarkets. It’s a lot of fun for me to walk around here. I sometimes feel like I’m in a different country. And there’s a hidden gem here. Well, if you like this kind of stuff, there’s a forest here called the Iikbukuro Nomi or Iikbukuro forest. It’s right here. If you blink, you will miss it. Oh, yes. Yeah. As soon as you come into the Shengai, uh just keep an eye on the right side and you will find the entrance to this little forest. Um this used to be a farm or a barn or something in the past, something like that. I will check later. You’ll check later. But anyway, it’s really small, but it’s kind of nice. Mhm. Yes. I checked. This place used to be a farm. Used to be a farm. Yes. And right now it is right next to a construction site, which is is doesn’t feel like a farm, but it’s kind of nice. Uh I think this place I recommend coming during like the colder months just because there’s a lot of mosquitoes here in the warmer months. But it’s nice. It’s It’s like a little oasis in the middle of the city. True. By the way, this park is open from 9 to 5:00 p.m. uh during the summer time. Yeah. Winter season 8 until 4 p.m. That’s right. So, they were just closing, but we got to talk to the the man, the ranger. Yeah. Danger. The ranger. Right. And then he told us about the history of this place. He showed us the oldest tree in here. It’s 90 years old. Really, really thick thick trunk. And it’s kind of amazing. Yes. Very amazing. And there’s a pond inside. And in the pond, lots of creatures. Creatures. Well, like frogs. And did he say lizards? I crayfish fly. Dragon fly. Dragon fly. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, this is a place that we only found just uh a couple of weeks ago. We’re like, what is this? Is this a forest? And then we’re so happy we discovered it. Like it’s so hidden away. Anyway, check it out. So, it’s dinner time now. And this place we’re going to go to is located inside a building and it’s very very near by station. But uh it’s really interesting. It’s one of the most unique places to eat I think in Tokyo. We’ve only discovered it recently, but the food there is incredible. So check this place out, guys. This is only our second time here. First time we came here, we were very in shock. We’re like, where are we? But that’s the great thing about Iikbukuro. There is a Chinatown, a real Chinatown. So, this is located on the fourth floor of the building. And this place is called Yuki Sho Kufu. There are six different stalls here that you can order from. Very interesting ordering system. You choose what you like. Uh they they write your order on this little card and you take it to their register and you pay. And then once you pay, you hand that back to the stall owner. First thing I got is a drink from the Taiwanese stall. And this is a plum juice. It’s one of my favorite things to drink. I had this last time. So delicious. Cheers. M. So refreshing. It just like perks me up. And mine is hardin beer. Haripin is the name of the city of China. Cheers. Oh, it’s refreshing. But it has the nice mold taste. Oh, this is good. Yeah. So, this dish is a tosho men from can shop. To men is a hand cut noodles and this one is with pork berry. It’s spicy but also it has a numbing taste. I think but not super spicy. But you can choose a spicy level. So, this one freshly cut noodles. Look. Looks not even. So it means it’s really hand cut. Oh, softer than I imagined. And it’s hand cut. So it comes with this soup flavor so nicely. Oh, I like this taste pork belly. M m. Incredibly tender. It’s concentrated the pork flavor inside. M. really good. So, this is also from the Taiwanese stall, the same place where I got my drink. And this is a traditional Taiwanese rice bowl called Ludo Fun. And it looks delicious. This is their recommended item. So, it’s basically stewed pork belly. Um there’s some quail eggs in there, some green vegetables, and a pickled radish. And it’s all served over rice like this. It looks and smells amazing. That is really, really good. The pork belly just melts in your mouth. It is so melt in your mouth. Tender and it’s so flavorful. I don’t really know what kind of spices they use, but I taste like uh soy sauce, maybe a little bit of sugar, maybe a little bit of ginger, too. This one is from Shishuan store. Yodare dori. The spicy chicken looks very spicy. Shishuan is a very famous for spicy food. This is one of them. Lots of chicken meat. M. It’s not super spicy. Nice balance. The chicken is tender. The seasoning or spice is unfamiliar for me. M m. Oh, that is good. For me, this is actually kind of spicy. There is definitely a kick there. Oh, really? I got I think I got the bottom part. I I taste chili. I taste the mala flavor. I also taste um some vinegar. It’s a little bit um sour as well, but it’s super well balanced. Like you said, the chicken is super tender. So much flavor in here. So this looks like omelette but this one is noodle. This is yakir grilled cold noodles from tohokui store. Tohoku means northeast part of China. So this looks like omelets. Yeah. Here it’s egg but it’s noodles. Inside of this noodles are sauce and sausage and some vegetables. M the flavor is little bit sour. I think they add a vinegar sweet vinegar and kind of like tomatoy but very wide noodles. This is from the stall selling Shanghai cuisine. We got this uh fried chicken and it’s fried chicken with something I I don’t quite remember. What is this flavor? salt. It’s just salt, pepper, sanchcho, a little bit sanchcho. The chicken is cooked perfectly. Um, it’s super flavorful. It’s simple but complex at the same time. I like this a lot. I know what you mean, Satoshi. It’s really hard to describe the food because it’s something we’ve never eaten before. Like this. First time I’m having this. M delicious. So, this is Shanghai oni from the same stall. So, it’s a grilled rice. Grilled rice cake, I guess. Look at that. So interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it. Oh, it’s quite heavy. Oh, wow. It’s so crunchy. It’s so crispy on the other side. And it’s actually subtle in taste, but there is um seasoning already on the rice. It’s quite nice. It’s subtle, but it’s perfect. It goes well with the other dishes we have today. That’s so interesting. I’ve never had anything like it. Mind blown. I love the food here. So, it is evening time now. We’re here at the Global Ring Cafe in front of the Global Ring. Yeah, this is like under the Global Ring. Under the Global Ring. This is like a little plaza in front of the Kibbuko station. I actually like to come to this cafe, especially in the evening when the weather is nice. It’s really nice. The atmosphere is very nice. Yeah, it’s really quiet, too. So, so I got a matcha latte. Of course, mine is a little bit difficult to explain. Here is under the global ling. So, I want to have the some kind of international drink. Oh, that’s why you chose that. So, this one, raspberry and yuzu tea, right? Inspired by Korea. That’s what it says on the menu. I wonder why. Okay. Anyway. Yeah. Cheers. Cheers. That was a beautiful day. Actually, I learned lots of things about Iikiburo, many new things here. You know, I a place that we do come to visit often. And a lot of the places we showed you on the video today are places that we love and we go to um ourselves. Except for the Chinese place. That was the our only second time. And I think we kind of found a new favorite spot for Chinese food. you know, like casual Chinese food, authentic Chinese food. Yes. And that place is very nice because you can enjoy five local dishes of China. That’s true. And we forgot to get sweets cuz there’s one more store selling only like baked goods and stuff. Yeah. But we were just too full. And there’s also a little supermarket attached to it. And I actually bought myself a bag of uh preserved plum. Yeah. Yeah. I love that so much. uh he hates it, but uh this is one place that I can get it. But anyway, I is great. I love it. I had a great day and I hope you guys enjoyed watching this video. Hope you found this video helpful, entertaining, and I hope that you can see that Ibukuro is a place where you can literally spend the entire day. Thank you so much for watching. Please subscribe for more Tokyo neighborhood videos coming up in the very near future. Hope you guys are enjoying this brand new series. If you missed our last one which was of Coeni which is our neighborhood, please check that out because that one is another epic video. Thank you for watching. See you in the next one. Bye.

Have you been to Ikebukuro before? Most people know it for anime, shopping malls, or busy train stations… but that’s only one side of the story.

In this video, we spend a full day exploring a completely different Ikebukuro – quiet morning bakeries, relaxing rooftops, hidden nature spots, unique ramen, local sweets, and a massive wall of gachapon you won’t believe exists.
Whether you’ve visited Ikebukuro many times or only passed through the station…you’ll probably discover something new today.

If you’re planning a trip to Tokyo – you might end up adding Ikebukuro to your list after this.
Enjoy the adventure with us!

👉Explore Koenji’s Hidden Gems

👉Jaoanese Chicken is Better Than Wagyu and Ramen Sauvage Signature Bowl

***Places We Visited***
📍Alsace Air / Hotel HISOCA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/goiotTZ7mifuzP487
📍Sunshine City
https://maps.app.goo.gl/N1o9LgRoC6G6Un7Z6
📍Green Odori (street)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rNuvsK1RsFdbPAPH9
📍Sauvage
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dnaqo6bw9eJ7ExVY7
📍gelato pique cafe creperie
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3qNd7iFUPNm7oRQz7
📍Daiya Deck
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XQygTY3uRVsGFQGR8
📍Ikebukuro Miharado
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GupgHLuAQTRTpEu97
📍Ikebukuro no Mori
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gg2Bg36zJSF8cqM57
📍Youyi Shifu/Yugi Shokuhu
https://maps.app.goo.gl/5CJnw5Mwa5JRRS3E9
📍Global Cafe/Global Ring
https://maps.app.goo.gl/5CJnw5Mwa5JRRS3E9

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++++++++++T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Intro Music by Matthijs den Daas
Contact@TiceTunes.com
twitter @TiceTunes

👉Subscribe! http://goo.gl/18SB8p
👉Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/tabieats
👕Check out our Merch!
https://tabieats-shop.fourthwall.com

Follow us on social media:
👉Instagram : http://instagram.com/smine27?ref=badge
👉Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Tabieats
👉TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@shinichimine

++++++++++T+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Intro Music by Matthijs den Daas
Contact@TiceTunes.com
twitter @TiceTunes