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Comfort Food in West Ikebukuro (西池袋)- キッチンABC　（Kitchen ABC)


Sometimes you need something quick, tasty and filling.  Yesterday's dinner was one of those occasions for me. Japanese 洋食, or "western-food" is something that I usually associate with that. Some examples of youshoku include ハンバーグ, or hamburger patty, various type of breaded and deep fried cutlets and croquettes, omelettes, omrice(egg-wrapped fried rice ), and other kinds of flavorful, filling dishes.

One of my favourites is omrice, prepared just so (not the same restaurant):




Doesn't it look so good (I hope to review that restaurant one day... it is in Kyoto, watch other videos on the dude's youtube channel for more 洋食 videos)!!

Anyways, Japanese curry, mayonnaise, demi-glace, mustard and sauce "ソース"(a sweet and sour almost Worcestershire sauce style condiment) are just a few of the flavours that often make an appearance. Usually these meals can be found as teishoku(定食), or meal sets, and come with a miso soup, some kind of salad or veg, and rice. Prices are reasonable, usually in the range of 7-900yen, depending on what you order.

Last night, I visited Kitchen ABC, a youshoku place located very close to Ikebukuro west gate park and the newly renovated theatre. It is a small place, no more than 30 seats, but the turnover is quick, with many single diners or couples popping in and out. If you have to wait, they usually take your order and can have it at your table almost immediately after you take your seat. I picked "tomato-pork(豚トマト)", which you can see in the picture here. The main part of the dish was thinly sliced pork, which was sauteed, and covered in a tomato- based sauce. The sauce was nothing like your Italian marinara, but was a bit more liquid and had a sweet and light taste which combined the flavours of the two main ingredients.

As the picture shows, a variety of sides came on the same plate (miso soup and rice not shown here). The veg was a nice balance to offset the sweetness. The pasta I could have done without. The two deep-fried things on top were chicken cutlets, which I added to the order for about 180 yen. They were exactly what I wanted, crispy on the outside, juicy, hot and tender on the inside.

The total price of my meal was something like 880 yen, not bad for eating out. I totally recommend Kitchen ABC if you are looking for something quick and tasty in the vicinity of Ikebukuro station. It's not the most upscale joint around, but more than satisfactory in terms of location, speed of service, and taste of food.  Furthermore, they have recently changed their policy to no-smoking, making things even better. We'll give them a rating of 88 for this visit, and will definitely be back!


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