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.