天ぷら
Light, crisp and fried one piece at a time at the counter, not the greasy version you know.
Real tempura is nothing like the heavy fried food served under that name abroad. At a proper counter the chef fries each piece of seafood or vegetable to order in a thin, almost transparent batter and places it in front of you within seconds. Tokyo's old districts of Asakusa and Nihonbashi are the traditional home of tempura, and Tabelog's top-rated counters there are some of the hardest reservations in the city.
Tempura as a counter meal was invented in Edo, and Asakusa, Nihonbashi and Ginza still hold the historic houses: two-hundred-year-old tendon shops and counters where a single chef has fried for fifty years. Tabelog's tempura ranking for Tokyo is dominated by Ginza; the Asakusa tendon shops are the affordable, walk-in alternative..
Ginza · Asakusa · Nihonbashi
Kyoto tempura counters are fewer than Tokyo's but the best, around Gion and Karasuma, use Kyoto vegetables (kyo-yasai) and are easier to reserve. Several kaiseki houses also run tempura lunches..
Gion · Karasuma
Five Shinjuku hideaway restaurants in back alleys and basements: ¥200 yakitori, clam-broth ramen, a ¥1,280 tendon lunch, aged sushi and weekend-only coffee.
Lunch tendon (tempura over rice) is the entry point and costs a fraction of dinner. At a counter, order the course and eat each piece immediately with salt or tentsuyu dipping sauce and grated daikon. Shrimp comes first, then fish, then vegetables, ending with kakiage (a fritter) over rice or in tea.
The course format means no menu decisions; just say you would like the course and whether you prefer salt or sauce.
Tempura counters above 3.6 are serious; above 3.8 are the handful of nationally known masters. For tendon shops, 3.4 is excellent.
Lunch tendon (tempura over rice) is the entry point and costs a fraction of dinner. At a counter, order the course and eat each piece immediately with salt or tentsuyu dipping sauce and grated daikon. Shrimp comes first, then fish, then vegetables, ending with kakiage (a fritter) over rice or in tea.
Lunch: ¥1,200 to ¥3,000 for tendon or a lunch course. Dinner: ¥8,000 to ¥25,000 at a counter.
Tempura counters above 3.6 are serious; above 3.8 are the handful of nationally known masters. For tendon shops, 3.4 is excellent.
Counter dinners require reservations. Tendon shops are walk-in and will have lunchtime queues.
Tokyo, Kyoto each have a dedicated page. Tokyo: Tempura as a counter meal was invented in Edo, and Asakusa, Nihonbashi and Ginza still hold the historic houses: two-hundred-year-old tendon shops and counters where a single chef has fried for fifty years.
Open TabeDog, pick tempura, and see Tabelog's top-rated shops around you with hours, prices and payment methods in English.
Find tempura on the map