A note on the words: Setouchi is the Inland Sea region of western Japan — Hiroshima, Okayama and their neighbours — famous for oysters and conger eel; Miyajima is the island off Hiroshima whose speciality is the wooden rice paddle, or shamoji, which this shop uses as a serving board; otoshi is the small dish brought to every seat in a Japanese drinking shop, carrying a small cover charge; shiso is the aromatic perilla leaf; koiwashi are small sardines; an izakaya is a Japanese drinking house that serves food. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Setouchi Ryori Zassoan on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too! This is Hangover Meshi.
This time, Ikebukuro. There seemed to be a shop doing Setouchi cooking, so we went to have a look.
Setouchi cooking means Hiroshima, Okayama, that part of the country. I rather fancied some oysters.
It was fairly busy inside, and when a place is busy the drinks tend to slow down.
At shops like this it works well to order a little early and time things to arrive when you want them!
A la carte again this time. We simply ordered whatever we felt like eating.
All orders go through a tablet on the table. Convenient, this sort of thing.
Nothing starts without a beer.
A platter of three: lightly pickled Hiroshima greens, aki-murasaki and yamato.
A generous helping of liver dressing. Only a good shop can put liver on the table — it is a dish that lives entirely on freshness, so shops divide sharply into those that can serve it and those that cannot. Over the white, springy flesh of the filefish, the rich liver clings in a soft glaze. That distinctive dense savour and sweetness really does go with a drink.
There is no off-taste whatever; if anything a rich taste of the sea spreads slowly through the mouth!
Flathead is a premium white fish, delicate and refined like fugu, with a firm, crunchy texture. You catch them when you go out fishing for sea bream and the like, but they are full of bones and awkward to prepare.
The batter is light and fragrant, and the flathead inside is plump and moist. Chew, and the savour of the white flesh and the taste of the sea fill your mouth.
Lean, and yet properly satisfying. The mountain vegetables are good too!
Grilled oyster! I like them better than raw. Full of savour and delicious.
Koiwashi, small sardines, are not something you hear about much in Tokyo, but apparently they are a major ingredient in Hiroshima.
Here they are grilled with salt, then scattered with pounded pickled-plum paste and shiso leaves — light and easy to eat!
The savour and fat of the sardine itself come through gently, and the sharpness of the plum cuts in against it. The scent of the shiso pulls it all together at the end, so the whole thing finishes clean. Even people who dislike oily fish could eat this.
Plum and shiso never fail! This is delicious.
Simmered conger eel, then seared to add fragrance!
Conger eel is a Setouchi speciality. Simmering first and searing afterwards is beautifully judged: the eel is simmered until soft and yielding, and only the surface is browned, so a faint crispness outside and a melting interior arrive in the mouth at the same moment, in two layers.
The sweetish braising sauce has soaked in slowly, and with the fragrance of the searing on top of it, this goes very well with a drink!
Crisp outside, juicy inside. The tartare sauce is made in-house and superb!
They use oysters from the best grounds in Hiroshima and Okayama — plump and thick-fleshed. The sheer quantity of savour the moment you break the coating is splendid.
The savour of the sea comes bursting out and meets the mellow richness of the house tartare. Very good indeed!
If you like oysters, you have to order this!
So: an izakaya with a distinct Hiroshima feeling. Oysters and seafood are the mainstay, but as a place to eat good oysters without ceremony I think it is rather good.
It is a small shop, so there can be some wait between ordering and the food arriving. Better to come when you have time to spare — and perhaps a set course would have come out faster.
Hiroshima Setouchi Ryori Zassoan (izakaya / Ikebukuro Station, Kanamecho Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
