A note on the words: gibier is the French term Japanese restaurants use for wild game — here venison and boar. Karasumi is cured mullet roe, grated over things as a salty seasoning. Ohitashi is greens blanched and steeped in dashi; ne-mitsuba is the rooted form of Japanese wild parsley. Nametake is enoki mushrooms simmered in soy sauce. Toro-taku is fatty tuna belly chopped with takuan, the crunchy yellow pickled daikon, and here it is rolled in nori seaweed. Kabayaki eel is glazed and grilled, tare meaning the sweet soy glaze. Hakurakusei, Atago no Matsu and Ten-on are sake labels. Junmai means a sake brewed from nothing but rice, water and koji. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Ikebukuro Torabako on AutoReserve (English) — opening hours, the Japanese address and online booking are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too. This is Hangover Meshi. This time, a place I was taken to with the words “there is a good restaurant in Ikebukuro! Let me introduce you!” — Ikebukuro Torabako. It is toward the north of Ikebukuro. I do come out this far now and then lately, but I did not know this one. A nicely hidden-away feeling and very stylish. I am looking forward to it.
It seems to be a gibier restaurant, so the game meat is of interest too!
There are regulars on the menu, but it also appears to change with the season, so, treating it as a one-time meeting, I chose whatever looked good!
This had been pushed at me hard, so I was very much looking forward to it!
A beer first. I was thirsty and finished it before I could take the photograph.
Despite being told by the staff that we would be better off ordering these individually, I completely forgot and went for the set of three.
At this size one each would have been fine! This time the seasonal appetizers come in six kinds. From those I chose octopus and celery carpaccio, muscat grapes with prosciutto and peanut cream, and simmered monkfish liver. Octopus and celery was never going to fail. Delicious. And the simmered monkfish liver is exceptionally good. This is not a beer matter, this is sake. The things to drink over are good here.
Aged sea bream and fresh sea bream, side by side. Being able to line them up like this and test how aging changes the flavor is a rare opportunity! I certainly had never eaten them side by side. The left was the aged one and the right the fresh, I think?
Starting with the fresh sea bream. Its character is an almost transparent springiness and the smell of the sea. The bite pushes back at you, and you taste the minerals of salt water. Then the aged one. Aged sea bream clings to the tongue, its savor concentrated. The fat rounds off the edges, and the more you chew the more the sweetness spreads. Well now, they are both good! The depth of aging and the clarity of freshness. Both are what makes sea bream sea bream, but the contrast between the richness time creates and the vitality freshness gives off is a fine thing!
I could not resist a Hakurakusei.
It has been a while since I ate chestnuts. The ginkgo nuts are floury and have that distinctive scent, which is lovely. With the karasumi on top of that, it is perfect with sake.
From the run of dishes you pick three of, I took the ne-mitsuba ohitashi on its own.
Sure enough, there is a case for ordering three of this size rather than one plate of three.
Also from the drinking-snack series, the house-made nametake. Quite dry, with the savor packed in.
It goes with sake, of course.
The venison and wild boar I ordered first! It is a place known for gibier, after all.
The left is the boar, I think? Both certainly have a firm bite to them, but the venison is packed with the particular savor of lean red meat. The boar has the feel of a well-built pork. Neither has any gaminess at all, and both have been cooked slowly over charcoal. Delicious.
And then bluefin toro-taku. It looks magnificent. Rolled in nori and in it goes.
This was genuinely delicious.
Charcoal-grilled, I suppose, this one too. Fluffy eel. There is not much color or char on the surface, but the crisp texture of the outside is a pleasure. Being able to eat charcoal-grilled eel in a portion this size, at a place with sake on the list, is surely the best of both worlds! This is a must order!
So: Torabako, as introduced to me. It is good! I can certainly see why someone would want to recommend it to people. They keep a lot of sake, so anyone who likes sake will definitely take to it! Apparently there is one in Shinjuku as well, so I thought I might show my face there next time.
Ikebukuro Torabako (Izakaya / Ikebukuro Station, Kita-Ikebukuro Station, Kanamecho Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
