Not able to obtain reservations at Fuku! What should I do?

[catsluvcofffee]

Despite contacting my hotel concierge more than a week ago, I couldn't secure reservations at either Fuku or Odako for next week.

Would your advice be to simply settle for another restaurant (another round of emails with the hotel!) or to attempt to go to these two places early, hoping to get seats?

Thanks for any advice!

[Philly Ray]

Sounds like you are really Fuku'd.

Sorry, I couldn't resist...;))

[catsluvcofffee]

No prob. I'm disappointed. I have started planning for this trip long ago but didn't realise how difficult it is to get reservations. In Singapore, this only happens with a few extremely popular restaurants, and then, only on weekends.

[lost squirrel]

You could always call Fuku the day before you'd like to go, ask if you can sit at the bar early in the night. If you promise to get out early, they may have room for you.

[catsluvcofffee]

Yea, that's what I hoped.

[Silverjay]

What's the big deal about those two places? Yakitori and oden shops are all over the place. Just pick two others. Where is your hotel?

[catsluvcofffee]

Really? This board seems to wax lyrical about Fuku and I was looking forward to trying the food there! I suppose I would just select another restaurant then.

I stay in Ikebukuro.

[Robb S]

For yakitori you might try Souten in Otsuka - it's much closer to your hotel (just one stop or a quick cab ride), and they grill up some interesting game birds this time of year as well as chicken. And if you can't read the menu you can just order the prix-fixe menu.
http://bento.com/rev/3265.html

[catsluvcofffee]

Thanks!

[catsluvcofffee]

Hi,

I just managed to stumble upon the Tabelog ratings for Souten (my problem is I can't search Tabelog based on the name Souten and need the kanji for it.). Seems really promising but seems like it's really popular and gonna be fully booked as well!

[Silverjay]

Fuku was listed in Bento.com (Robb's resource) and some people posted about their experiences there. There's a couple dozen other shops listed on the yakitori page, including many in Shinjuku. We've also done threads with lists of the highest regarded yakitori shops in Tokyo according to the Japanese food sites.

For oden, I found a few shops kinda near your hotel:

Okame in Higashi Kitazawa (take Odakyu Line from Shinjuku)
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1318/A131811/13001829/

Oden-kappo Inagiku in Kojimachi (Hanzomon Line from Shinjuku
)http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130803/13023706/

In Ikebukuro there's a place called "Oden and Horse Meat Babayoshio". Now this is what i call REAL Japanese food. Is there anyone under 50 eating here? I wonder...
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130503/13098749/

This place is in Ikebukuro. Specializes in oden and seasonal izakaya. No mention of horse meat...
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/p608100/

[catsluvcofffee]

Yup. I read that, which was why I badly wanted to go Fuku, even though it's not that highly rated in Tabelog. Odako was more because I would be in the Ueno side that day and wanted to try some oden before moving on to Seigetsu (a recommendation found from bento.com!)

"Oden and Horse Meat Babayoshio" looks like a real potential for late night supper back in Ikebukuro. Thanks for the rec!

[Silverjay]

Whoops, looked into it some more and realized Babayoshio is actually in Takadanobaba/ Waseda area, not Ikebukuro. It's a couple stops away on the Yamanote.

[catsluvcofffee]

No prob. With the exception of Kabuto, restaurants in Ikebukuro don't seem to get highly rated in Tabelog..

[Uncle Yabai]

I wonder why.... Ikebukuro: The Tijuana of Tokyo.

[jem589]

I thought that too, but I wandered through Kinshicho a few nights ago and was startled at how seedy it is! Makes a strong case for itself.

If the OP is cool with all sorts of dining now, I really enjoyed this place in Ikebukuro, just a solid modern izakaya, very good fish on ice, sake:
http://iitokorone.blogspot.com/2010/01/umibatake-ikebukuro.html

And there's a highly-rated izakaya in Otsuka that I've been meaning to try:
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1323/A132...

[Silverjay]

Kinshicho is infamous for being seedy. I think from post-war, when the seedier elements of Asakusa were displaced from the bombings...Kameido, next stop on the Sobu-sen, has many good places to eat.