Tenko, Tempura – Kagurazaka

Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo 

This is my favourite tempura restaurant in Tokyo run by an elderly Japanese couple. 

The restaurant is in a hidden side street in a neighbourhood of Japan not often frequented by tourists visiting on holiday. However, Kagurazaka is one of my favourite places, similar to Gion in Kyoto with small sides streets and former Geisha houses. It has a refined elegance about it with a lot of traditional buildings. There are also many french restaurants in the area, as the “French School” in Tokyo used to be nearby, with a lot of french expats choosing to live close by.

The restaurant itself is all wooden in a former Geisha house making for an elegant dinner setting.  It is very small with only 8 counter seats and a separate restaurant (not visited) with private dining rooms.  Counter seating in Japan is regarded to be the best seating, considered as a privilege as you can converse with the chef and see the food being prepared and cooked right in front of you. You are able to see what the next dish to be served will be and all food is served pipingly hot as the distance to your plate from behind the counter is minimal.

The menu is only omakase (chefs set menu) with no actual menu to choose from, which is useful as there is no need to worry about what to order. Tempura is deep-fried and battered ingredients, often prawns and fish, similar to fish and chips in the UK and is popular among foreigners.

The tempura served here is a selection of fish, prawn and vegetables deep-fried infront of you by the master chef. Each dish is fried fresh after each plate is finished, in a light batter making the tempura beautifully light, oil-free and delicious. The ingredients are seasonal so the course menu may not be the same, depending on when you visit.

The chefs course menu is expensive at approx JPY 20,000 per person for dinner, including Sake (Nihon-shu). There is a sake menu, quite simple with only a small selection but sake is recommended as it goes well with tempura.