Hasegawa

Hasegawa (はせ川)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍤 Tempura / 📍 Kinshicho

📓 Visits: 4 (-2024)

7-chome Kyoboshi has had an interesting history with the Michelin Guide:

2009: debuted with 2 stars
2011: promoted to 3
2014: demoted to 2
2015: dropped

That deletion wasn't quite the same sensation as when Jiro and Saito were dropped several years later but it was a mystery at the time.  Apparently the owner asked to be delisted, perhaps at his displeasure of being demoted to two stars?  No other tempura restaurant has ever been awarded 3 Michelin Stars.

Courses at 7-chome Kyoboshi start from 32K plus tax and service, which several years ago, was an incredible amount money for tempura.  The restaurant got a lot of poor Tabelog reviews with customers complaining mainly about the price, extra charges, value for money and customer service.  I went many years ago and had a great experience but too was put off returning by the price.  Fast forward to 2018 and Kusunoki opens in Tokyo where the course starts from 50K and bills can easily reach 70K when you add drinks, tax and service.  On price alone, 40K for tempura at Kyoboshi doesn't look so expensive now.

What does this have to do with Hasegawa?  Well, the ancestry is a bit complicated and the origins are well-explained in the excellent review of 7-chome on Tofugu.  But, in brief, it all starts with the Sakakibara family at Tempura Kyoboshi in Kyoto, which has been operating since 1947.  Yoshimatsu Sakakibara and Yokoyama-san (a cousin, I believe and I don't have a first name) opened Kyoboshi in Ginza in 1952 and then a branch, 7-chome Kyoboshi, in 1982 (which has moved a couple of times but kept its name).  Yoshimatsu Sakakibara and Yokoyama went on to open their own restaurants, Yoshimatsu (which still operates today under Yoshimatsu's son, Mitsuzo Sakakibara) and Yokoyama, respectively.  At the age of 72 and after 50 years as a tempura chef, Yokoyama handed over the reigns of his restaurant to Tadahiko Hasegawa in 2012.  Yokoyama-san didn't just pick anyone: Hasegawa had trained at Yoshimatsu for 16 years prior to taking over.

All of this is a long way of explaining that the tempura at Hasegawa is very much in the Kyoboshi style.  Kyoboshi pioneered the idea of eating tempura with salt and lemon rather than tensyu.  The tempura batter is egg-less and extremely light.  A secret mix of oils is used rather than pure sesame oil and it's not changed during service, though it is topped-up.  The emphasis is on vegetables but up to four shrimp are served randomly throughout the meal and the shrimp head is not served (it's said to make the oil dirty).  Every meal begins with the signature item of hatoshi, or minced prawn toast.  Anago is rarely served and akadashi is not served.  Hasegawa debuted in the 2013 Michelin Guide, retaining the one star Yokoyama had between 2009 and 2012.  There was a big shuffle in the 2019 Guide and Hasegawa lost its star.

There's no simultaneous or staggered start so you can dine at a time of your choosing, at your own pace and it doesn't matter if you're early/late.  You can request as much extra tempura as you like.  Kinshicho is close to the Ryugoku Kokugikan and on my visit in May 2021 there were two sumo wrestlers dining and, as you might imagine, they were eating a lot :)

I'd rate Hasegawa 8/10 on quality of ingredients and 9/10 on technique.  There's some residual grease on the paper but the tempura doesn't feel heavy or oily.  The hatoshi is divine.  The shrimp are some of the sweetest I've ever had, as good or almost as good as you get at Kusunoki.  I hate okra but here it was good.  Tomorokoshi is served rare, is supersweet and juicy.  Other highlights include the awabi, chi-ayu, renkon, unagi norimaki and shima aji served with a cucumber vinegar on my last visit.  Manganji togarashi was a bit hard and stringy compared with Nakagawa a week before and tama-negi could definitely be sweeter.  I did not enjoy the tairagai which wasn't actually battered and was very highly-seasoned.  The quail egg probably needs more seasoning but that's one of the flaws of tempura courses: it's hard to judge how much seasoning you should add (a problem that Kusunoki has solved by seasoning everything for you).  Takenoko was a bit greasy and had a queer flavour.  I prefer fish and while the May 2021 course included the prawn toast, awabi tempura served as a mini donburi, tairagai and 4 shrimp, only 2 other tempura fish were served whereas 7 kinds of vegetables were served (and no anago).  So on my next visit I requested anago and more fish when I booked.  Just before the tendon was served chef presented 6 extra fish to choose from and I chose three.  The anago was just OK in the end and I would not necessarily request it again.  On my most recent visit I didn't order extras.  The meal ends with a choice of tencha or tendon.  I believe tencha is recommended at Kyoboshi restaurants (was it invented there?) and they use high quality tea from Kyoto but I prefer tendon.  The same super-sweet prawns are used and the batter retains its crispness.  It's one of the best mini tendons around.  If you order tendon then instead of akadashi you're given a cup of tea.  Tsukemono were more salty and strongly pickled than I remembered them on my most recent visit but I liked them.  The side dishes are to the level of a good kaiseki restaurant.  In December 2021 seko-gani (female snow crab) was served.  For me, the layers of flavour and texture in female crab are much more satisfying than the trophy item one-note male crab.

Seats are uncomfortable: there's a step on the floor under the counter which if you're tall, means you either put your feet on it and have your knees pushed up against the underside of the table, or sit further back, put your feet on the floor in front of the platform and be leaning forward to the counter.  In winter the room was very cold.  I was wearing 4 layers, they gave me a blanket and put the heating on when I asked but all the heat was escaping through the open windows.  But that was during Covid so hopefully not a problem now (the diner-separating perspex with Government banners has, thankfully, gone).  Chef is quite softly spoken.  Dialogue with me is limited to introducing each piece of tempura but he chats with regulars when prompted.  There's no English menu and no English is spoken.

Quite often after a tempura meal you feel very full but I never feel that here.  There will be some smell of oil on your clothes when you leave but it's less pronounced than most other tempura restaurants.  Dessert is a choice of azuki monaka, kuzukuri or ice-cream.  I recommend the ice-cream which is a decent portion and comes with a fresh goma and kinako sauce.  In winter, not wanting to make myself any colder, I skipped.

There was a 2.5 year gap between my two most recent visits to Hasegawa, though not because I hadn't wanted to go back.  It's an easy reservation so it's one that I'll make for the same day or next day.  I've just had no luck.  In the original, 2021, publication of this review I stated Hasegawa is 5-6K less than Sonoji, Edomae Shinsaku and Motoyoshi and Mikawa.  In 2024 it's now around 17k cheaper than Sonoji, at least 10k cheaper Edomae Shinsaku, 10k cheaper than Motoyoshi and 9k cheaper than Mikawa and there's been no drop in quality or quantity.  So while prices have increased a little (from JPY 14,000 + tax to JPY 16,00 + tax, no service charge) they haven't increased nearly as much as anywhere else, though in fairness, there were 2-3 fewer tempura compared with before.  Hasegawa is probably the most underrated tempura restaurant in Tokyo and it's one of the easiest to book.  I intend to go more often now.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1312/A131201/13143482/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.3 (value: 5.0, comfort: 2.0) 

📱 Booking: 🟩 Reservations by phone for the same day are possible but phone a week in advance to secure a specific date.  You can also book online via Ikyu.com.  Unfortunately he only accepts bookings for two or more diners now, unless you're a returning customer.  No English spoken.

📍 Location:

2-7-10 Kotobashi.  7 mins walk South-West from Kinshicho station.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2021 Google

Visit July 2024

Kegani, tougan, zuiki, vinegar jelly (sakizuke)
Hatoshi
Ebi
Uzura tamago
Tama negi
Chi ayu
Ebi
Unagi tempura norimaki
Takenoko
Shima aji, cucumber vinegar
Shin ginnan x3
Kisu
Tomokoroshi
Ebi
Tendon (or tencha)
Tea
Vanilla ice, goma cream (or kuzukuri or azuki monaka)
Hojicha

Damage: 19,250 (16k + 2 drinks @ 1500 + 10%)
Time taken: 1h30m

📅 Visit December 2021

Simmered daikon, veg (sakizuke)
Prawn toast
Ebi
Uzura tamago
Tama negi
Anago
Renkon
Broccoli
Fugu, dashi
Ebi imo
Negi, katsuoboshi
Seko-gani (tsumami)
Ebi
Megochi senbei
Megochi
Takenoko
Ebi
+Kisu
+Wakasagi
+Ika
+Ebi imo
Tsukemono
Tendon (or tencha)
(Dessert)
Hojicha

💴 Damage: 20,900 (14000 + 4400 + 1 drink @600 +10%)
⏱ Time taken: 2h5m

📅 Visit May 2021

Hamaguri somen (sakizuke)
Prawn toast
Ebi
Okra
Tama negi
Ayu
Togarashi
Ebi
Tairagai
Awabi tempura donburi
Sayaingen
Hime-takenoko
Megochi
Ebi
Soramame
Tomorokoshi
Ebi
Tendon (or tencha)
Tsukemono
Ice-cream (or kuzukuri or azuki monaka)

💴 Damage: 16,500 (14000 + 2 drinks @2x500 + 10%)
⏱ Time taken: 1h40m