Closed business on April 21st, today I was in Omori and found a Chinese restaurant in the town center called "Kouraku." I had been to this place before and noticed an izakaya right in front of it that I was curious about. However, when I visited today, the izakaya "Kacchan" was closed. On the other hand, "Kouraku" had closed down due to the passing of the owner. The omurice was delicious when I tried it before. I wonder if it was run by a husband and wife. An elderly couple seemed to be running the place. It was around 9 pm on a Friday and there were no other customers at first. The appetizer was edamame, nothing special here. The sautéed Vienna sausages I ordered turned out to be quite a surprise. It came with a whole onion and probably used about two eggs. I think it was around 600 yen. Apparently, they don't skimp on portions here. One of their specialties is macaroni gratin, which is quite rare for a small izakaya. Let's see how it tastes. It had a light feel for a gratin and the cheese flavor was just right. It went well with alcohol, and I can see why it's a specialty. Initially, I was dining alone, but later some regular customers arrived. The atmosphere was very friendly, and I heard they have been in business for over 40 years. I will definitely come back. Thank you for the meal.

After enjoying Gyudon at Kohraku, I was heading back towards Oimori Station to go to the next planned restaurant when I noticed an izakaya across the street from Kohraku. It was too dark to notice earlier when it was bright, but now that the lights were on, I saw it. This place seems to be in a good location with public baths nearby. Looking at the menu outside, there seemed to be a variety of options. Since I had walked quite a distance from Oimori Station to here, I thought it was unlikely I would come back here often, so I decided to give this place a try as well. It was around 5:10 pm, and there were no other customers. I sat at a table on the right side, which had a good view of the sumo wrestling on TV. I started with a Shochu Highball (429 yen) to cheers. It was interesting that I could choose between barley or sweet potato shochu, so I chose barley. It came in a mug, very simple and reminiscent of drinking at home. The dishes I had were: - Fried tofu with green onions (319 yen) - 2 pieces of fried horse mackerel (539 yen) - Braised pork belly with miso (605 yen) The fried tofu with green onions was simple but delicious. It seemed like something I could easily make at home. When I saw the menu on the wall, I thought maybe they were big on curry, so I imagined pouring curry sauce over the fried tofu, but they said it's better on its own, so I gave up on that idea. The horse mackerel was fried perfectly, with a crispy coating. They were small but thick and tasty. With 2 pieces, it was easy to share. The braised pork belly with miso was recommended instead of the tripe stew I wanted to order. It was actually a stew with pork belly, tofu, daikon radish, konjac, and green onions. The konjac was surprisingly tasty. After the Shochu Highball, I had a Lemon Sour (517 yen). I could also choose the shochu for this, so I went with sweet potato shochu. It was refreshing and nice. At that time, the owner was the only one managing the place. I asked how long they had been in business, and it turned out they had been running for 39 years. I spent an hour watching sumo wrestling, and the bill came out to 1,650 yen per person. Thank you for the meal.