Tempura Kaiseki

Just as Yakitori Hirako which we visited was no ordinary Yakitori place, Tenmasa that we went the next day was no ordinary Tempura place either. 

Best Tempura in Town

Took me a bit of effort to find my way to Tempura Suzuki before I realized they took up the space of the old Sushi Sase up on Ice House Street in Central – but I still ended up being the first to arrive at this new restaurant with only 8 seats in front of the kitchen counter. A few high-end tempura restaurants have opened in recent months, which is always a welcoming news. 

Assembly Line Tempura

Tenkai on Aberdeen Street is only one of the handful tempura "specialists" in town, and naturally hugely popular being one of the most reasonably priced and we couldn't travel. Even when we made ours 3 months in advance, we only managed 2 seats in the later, less favorable seating of 8:15pm on a Friday evening. 

Weekday Japanese Lunch 2: Tempura Jiro

I couldn’t believe my luck when I managed to get a seat at Tempura Jiro at the last minute. Good tempura restaurants are few and far between in Hong Kong so I have been trying for months to make a booking for this new restaurant on Stanley Street. And I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a spot made available for their lunch service just a couple of days ahead of time. I didn’t hesitate to hit “Confirm” to make the reservation. 

Returning To An Old Favorite

I felt obliged to go back to Tempura Fukamachi to eat this time - it's been one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo (back when I came more regularly) and I wanted to show CYY what the fuss is about this small restaurant at the back alley not far from Ginza. So I asked the hotel concierge to make the booking for us once our Japan itinerary was confirmed.

Last Minute Tempura Lunch

Well, I did try to call a few other places before getting a last minute lunch reservation at Ippoh in Sheung Wan last weekend. I was originally craving for some sushi but when none of the places I wanted have space at the counter available, I settled with my second choice of tempura. Ippoh is a place that I always wanted to check out, so I was just glad I got the chance to at last.

Proper Kaiseki

I came to know this Japanese place through a rather unusual source - sponsored ad on Facebook how about that? (just to show it does occasionally work you marketing people!) I was intrigued by the fact that the restaurant, called Tenkuni, is specialized in Tempura and Unagi, or freshwater eel, as they advertised. You know, there's only a handful place in town that serves even half-decent Unagi dishes that can be somewhat close to any random ones in Japan, so that got me curious enough to give it a shot on one weeknight.

Legit Local Tempura Place

To be honest I was not all that convinced when I received an invitation to check out this new tempura restaurant in Central. Coming off a weekend in Tokyo just recently I wasn't exactly in the mood for a Japanese meal knowing it's likely not close to what I would have in Japan, but I was relieved somewhat after seeing Chef Eric behind the counter when I walked into the restaurant on a weeknight joining a group of friends for a dinner tasting. Chef Eric was the tempura chef at a Japanese restaurant in Causeway Bay some years ago which we frequented then, so on more than a few occasions we enjoyed many of the tempura dishes prepared by him. That certainly gave me some level of comfort, and not haven't tried his food for a while I was curious to check it out.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Tempura at the Counter

We tried our luck in getting a couple of seats at the counter of Tempura Yoshikawa for lunch without a booking and glad we were seated right away when we arrived after the morning visit to Nijo Castle a couple of blocks away. The kitchen primarily serves the guests of their 8-room ryokan, but it also serves lunch at a cozy 11-seat counter inside a wooden house next door.

The Very Best Dinner at Tempura Fukamachi

I was surprised when I realized how long it has been since I last visited Tempura Fukamachi. Over the years I had the opportunity to check out a few tempura outlets around Tokyo, and so far Fukamachi was the one I love most. And therefore I felt obligated to come back this time when I was in Tokyo, even if that meant I need to change my schedule to fit the dinner in.

A Popular Choice for Tempura

We were caught into a bit of an awkward situation with the heavy rain pouring down as we got out of the taxi just outside Tempura Yasaka Endo (天ぷら八坂圓堂) in Kyoto on a Sunday evening. We slowly regained our composure as we were led through a narrow stone path into the tempura bar area housed in a traditional building, where two seats have already been reserved for us at the corner of the L-shaped counter.

Tempura Uchitsu - Counting the stars

After spending the first evening at a wonderful sushi-ya in Aoyama, on the second (and last) night in Tokyo we came to the neighborhood of Hiro-o near Roppongi for a dinner of tempura. This time during our short stint in Tokyo, I intended to try out places that we have never been before, and while I was doing my research of where to go, one place in particular caught my attention.

Visiting an old tempura house in Hong Kong

Ten Yoshi was one of the handful Japanese restaurants in town that specialized in tempura - in fact they were probably one of the first that are truly worth mentioning. A few friends were talking about that on our whatsapp group and decided to have lunch there on one weekday afternoon.

Pilgrimage to the Tempura Temple

The Tokyo trip was put together at very short notice but at the end I got the job done (after all it's primarily a business trip), and as a bonus I was blessed with awesome weather and wonderful meals outside of work. How about that for killing two birds in one stone? I always try to fit in a tempura meal as I did in my previous stays, and this time I could finally make time for "Mikawa Zezankyo", one of the places often mentioned when people talked about top tempura restaurants in Tokyo.

More Tokyo - Back in history at Nihonbashi's Tenmo

I felt like going back in time when I arrived at Tenmo, a tempura restaurant in Nihonbashi district in Tokyo, in a rainy evening in late March. The small and humble wooden 2-story house - which is both the restaurant (downstairs) and the family residence (upstairs) - was built in 1947 and stood as stark contrast to the surrounding skyscrapers which came well after it. Same retro theme continued with the decor inside, which seems to have left unchanged all these years, with a simple open kitchen setup that resembles more of a family kitchen than a professional one, and a fan-shape counter with high chairs that can sit up to 6 right in front. As I saw the framed newspaper hung on the wall that read "February 1955", I subconsciously took a peek at my iPhone to check the clock and make sure I didn't literally go back in time.

The Perfect Tempura Lunch - Tokyo's Rakutei

For the past few trips to Tokyo, I always tried to find time for at least one decent sushi meal, and one tempura meal. This time, I booked myself a lunch spot at the Michelin 2-starred tempura restaurant Rakutei in the neighborhood of Akasaka.

Tokyo Short Trip - Tempura Yamanoue Roppongi

I was drawn to Tempura Yamanoue as chefs at the Michelin-starred Fukamachi and Kondo - which I went in my previous visits (the links were what I have reflected on those meals) - were trained there before setting up their own shops (so was the chef at Rakutei, another famous tempura restaurant in town). Tempura Yamanoue is an old restaurant, opened almost 60 years ago at the Hilltop Hotel in Kanda District, and the one I went was their Roppongi branch, located in the Tokyo Midtown commercial complex.

Quest for Tempura - Kondo

Tempura is my second favorite type of Japanese food, just behind sushi. If you think tempura's nothing more than just some shrimps or fish or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-fried in oil, try come to Tokyo and go to one of the many good tempura restaurants. I randomly walked into the legendary Tenichi Honten at Ginza by myself 10 years ago and had the best tempura of my life, and that forever changed my view on this adopted Japanese cuisine ever since.