Somewhere New

We picked Sushi Muto in Nihonbashi for lunch purely because they are one of the few sushi-ya that opened on Sundays and the location worked well for our tight itinerary (we made a reservation to go visit Shibuya Sky right after and need to be on time). And with the restaurant located in a commercial building right behind the famous Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store we managed to have a quick shopping session before we went up for our meal.

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.