Tempura Hisago
Where? Tempura Hisago (Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan) Map
When? Sunday February 5, 2017
Who? Solo Traveller Me
Food Style? Japanese Tempura
After another exhausting day, Amy has another recommendation for me. This time for tempura in Akihabara, inside a shopping mall, and it's a bit more foreigner-friendly than the last restaurant I wrote about. This one comes with a handy guide on how to eat tempura, and how to use the various condiments.
Base Set
I order a tasting menu. The base set comes with salad, rice, miso soup, and various saucers for the condiments available - tempura sauce, lemon and rock salt.
Shrimp Tempura
The tempura is light and crispy on the outside, with the seafood maintaining a good texture on the inside. This is very good quality, and doesn't feel oily at all. The lemon goes really well with the shrimp, giving it that familiar acidity and sweetness to accentuate what it already has.
Fish, Broccoli, Eggplant, Squid
The next batch arrives. The food is served slowly so that they remain hot and crispy, and it doesn't go soggy in between. There's also a tempura fish tail which I forgot to take a photo of; that's how delicious the food was.
Prawn Fritter, Pumpkin
The final batch, the largest of them all, arrives. The fritter is almost too cumbersome to pick up with my chopsticks but somehow I manage.
I got nine pieces of very good quality tempura for just 2750 yen. To be perfectly honest, it really isn't hard to find good food in Japan, and lots of places are quite friendly towards foreigners, especially since they are gearing up for the 2020 Olympics.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:59pm on Friday February 24, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Nakameno Teppen
Where? Nakameno Teppen (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan) Map
When? Saturday February 4, 2017
Who? Solo Traveller Me
Food Style? Japanese Grill
I was wandering around Shibuya and needed to look for a Lawsons to print out tickets to the Square Enix Cafe (which is a story in itself) but nearby was an assuming restaurant recommended by Amy via Taeblog. I'm told this is a traditional Japanese grill. I followed Google Maps to the location but I have no idea whether I was actually at the right place because there's no English signage. It's a very quiet street, pretty dark and deserted, but I know I'm in for an experience so nerves or not, I enter and am seated by the bar. The menu is in broken Engrish, so at least I know kinda what I'm eating.
I get asked what drink I want, and I'm not feeling like alcohol at the moment, especially since I'm so far away from everything, so I ask for a green tea, thinking I'll get something to warm me up. What I get given, however, is an ice cold green tea. Oh well.
I've ordered a flurry of things, and have to be told to stop, and that what I've got is enough for one person. While I'm waiting for the food, I'm watching the chefs cook, and it brings a smile to my face because I love watching food being prepared in traditional ways. I find it fascinating.
Appetiser
Chilled vegetables with cheesy miso sauce
I'm hungry and this is very tasty, so it vanishes quickly. You dip the vegetables into the sauce and have a good time.
Eggplant
The eggplant comes first and it is long. Really long. Juicy and tasty though, especially with the bonito flakes and soya sauce. The staff have limited English (but it is still better than my Japanese) but they manage to explain how to eat it to me.
Pumpkin
Delicious. Buttery and perfectly grilled, the pumpkin melts in your mouth, with a hint of smoke and crispiness at the edges.
Mackerel
The mackerel arrives and it's massive but I tuck in anyway. It's really tasty and fresh. Soft and delicate on the inside, crispy on the outside. I'm glad they told me to stop ordering because this is too much food, even for me.
I may be an ignorant foreigner, but my handywork with the chopsticks lets me pluck away at the flesh of the fish without disturbing the main bone like a pro.
Salmon
The salmon is last. It's a thin slice of meat, with mostly skin, but it's perfectly crispy and again, tasty and fresh.
I'm really struggling to finish but I refuse to bring shame upon my name and my family, so I power on and am victorious. I'm rewarded with a minted hot towel and a 4000 yen bill. For what I ate, that's not too bad. Two people could have had what I ate for the same price. As I leave, they give me a packet of miso soup for the morning. Arigato gozaimasu!
Posted by Jeremy at 7:46pm on Friday February 24, 2017 :: 0 comments ::