Category Archives: Tempura

Tempura with a twist at YOTARO, ROPPONGI

by Bianca

I was completely charmed by this lovely family-runTempura restaurant in Roppongi. Their tempura was somewhat different from what I’ve been used to. The batter is really thin and soft, lacking the crunchiness of other Tempura meals I’ve tried, yet it was deliciously different.

The father prepared our meal, while his wife served us. His son, who spoke English, worked in the kitchen. He told us he was sent to study cooking in Kyoto by his parents and has been a chef for 7 Years which is still short for Japanese standards. He is planning to take over the restaurant in the future.

There is no menu, so we just obliged with what the chef had to offer. Our first course was some other worldly anago (sea eel) sushi. Absolutely divine.

Anago sushi

It was followed by some sashimi…

And a little surprise, some deep-fried bread with shrimp paste inside. It tasted oh so delicious. Now this dish was some crunchy perfection.

Deep fried bread with shrimp paste

After that came the series of tempura. The usual shrimp, squid, fish and vegetables. If you take a close look at the pictures you might notice the difference of texture in the tempura batter.

Shrimp tempura

 

The vegetables

At the end of the meal, we were presented with their famous ‘fish rice’. They steam your rice with a whole fish in it and then take the bones out and mix the fish meat in your rice.

The famous Yotaro fish rice

For dessert, we had a very interesting waffle with some sticky mochi-like paste inside. This was prepared by the son who told us he created this dish without using any flour or egg. The key ingredient in this dessert was lotus and green tea. It was the perfect desert. Unique, light and refreshingly delicious.

The dessert

So, if you are looking for some tempura with a twist, I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Price : $$$

Address 4-11-4 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Telephone 03-3405-5866
Home Page http://www.roppongi-yotaro.com (In Japanese)
Business Hours 5:30pm-10:00pm(L.O); Closed on Sun

My favorite Tempura in Tokyo : SHIMIZU

by Bianca

Shimizu

I have written about this restaurant before in my other blog as one of the ‘must try’ restaurants in Tokyo. A year has passed, many other Tempura restaurants have been visited yet Shimizu remains my favorite.

The ingredients

It has become increasingly harder to get seats at this small restaurant on the 45th floor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. They only serve 6 at the counter so booking ahead is a definite must. Set menus for lunch go from around 4500 yen upwards and dinner sets start at 12.000 yen.

Shimizu counter

Shrimp tempura

Some might disagree with me, but I love how the size of their seafood and vegetables are on the smaller side. The shrimps and fish are small and delicate, the vegetables fresh and crunchy. Their exquisite shrimp head fits perfectly into your mouth in one bite.

Asparagus and shrimp head tempura.

What seals the deal for me is the 5 different kinds of salt they offer you to eat your Tempura with including, curry, green tea and plum salt. Before, I used to eat my tempura by dipping them into the sauce, now I just dip them in salt. Simple and delicious.

The variety of salts

At the end of your meal, you will be asked to pick between the ten-don (a small bowl of rice with tempura topping) or the ten-cha (a small bowl of porridge with tempura toppings). I suggest the ten-don.

For desert, you will usually be asked to move to their dining area where you can enjoy the sprawling view of Tokyo from the 45th floor over some ice cream and a cup of green tea.

Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-6245 Japan
Phone: +81-3-3423-8000 (ask to be connected to Shimizu)

MIKAWA KEYAKIZAKA DORI TEMPURA

by Bianca

I have difficulty when trying to differentiate one tempura restaurant from the rest. My taste buds are probably not sophisticated enough to characterize the quality of the tempura batter or the freshness of the seafood. They taste the same to me except for Shimizu at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo which I still find the most outstanding. That is probably because of the different kinds of salt that they provide for you

The Mikawa at Keyakizaka dori is a michelin one star establishment that has a very interesting facade. As you can see in the picture above, a flock of birds are flying on a gold wall. I find this very aesthetically pleasing.

The restaurant itself is yet again aesthetically pleasing ,small, with a tempura bar that seats 9 and a small private tatami room. I love the artwork on their walls and was told that it was actually a constellation of old restaurant entry curtain designs.

There is only one choice of omakase (chef’s recommendation) menu for dinner and it will set you back about 10,500 yen. It consists of mainly seafood (the usual shrimp, fish, squid and anago) and mushrooms with a little vegetable at the end. My favorite as in other tempura restaurants are the fried shrimp heads. The squid did taste very soft and melted in your mouth.

At the end of the tempura serving you have a choice of Tendon (which is a bowl of rice, a cluster of fried seafood in batter served on top with some sweet sauce) or Tencha (which is the same thing only served in rice porridge). I would suggest the Tendon.

For dessert comes a small bowl of sweet red bean jelly which is just enough to end everything on a sweet note.

Even though this tempura restaurant did receive a Michelin star, it honestly did not blow my mind. Yet I also have to say that it was good, and I would probably come back often given the easy location.

MIKAWA KEYAKIZAKA DORI : Roppongi Hills Residence B,3F, 6-12-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Phone 03-3423-8100.