Hasegawa

Hasegawa (はせ川)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍤 Tempura / 📍 Kinshicho

📓 Visits: 3 (-2021)

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.  I noted that on all my visits chef doesn't change the oil during service.  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).  The signature item of minced prawn toast is included.  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

I visited Hasegawa many years ago and thought it was excellent.  I decided to return in 2021.  The basic course is JPY 14,000 + tax with no service charge taken.  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.  On my visit in May 2021 there were two sumo wrestlers dining and, as you might imagine, they were eating a lot :)  Diners are separated by perspex at the counter, which has rather intrusive Government banners about Covid-19 displayed inside them.  Seats are uncomfortable: there's a protruding platform 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.  Chef is quite softly spoken.  Dialogue with me was limited to introducing each piece of tempura but he chats with regulars when prompted.  In fairness, this is a discipline that requires concentration - if you're managing 3-4 groups by yourself at all at different stages in the course you don't really have time to chat and chef was busy the whole time I was there.  There's no English menu and no English is spoken.

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.

Ingredients are generally good quality and there's basically no grease from the tempura whatsoever.  Manganji togarashi was a bit hard and stringy compared with Nakagawa (review to come) a week ago and tama-negi in December was a bit flavourless.  I did not enjoy the tairagai which wasn't actually battered and was very highly-seasoned.  Anago was just OK and I would not necessarily request it again.  On the other hand, the shrimp are quite possibly the sweetest I've ever had and as good as at Kusunoki.  The mini tendon is one of the best - the same super-sweet prawns and the batter retaining its crispness.  Tomorokoshi was supersweet and juicy and the awabi was a real highlight.  I hate okra but here it was good.  Everyone likes prawn toast and of course this was delicious.  The tsukemono and side dishes are outstanding.  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.  It was a real and unexpected treat to eat this as part of a tempura course.  It's a shame, as I mentioned, there was no akadashi.  I believe tencha is recommended at Kyoboshi restaurants (was it invented there?) and they use high quality tea from Kyoto but I prefer tendon.

Quite often after a tempura meal you feel very full but I didn't feel that here.  The lighter oil used means there's a less pronounced smell of oil on your clothes when you leave, compared with other tempura restaurants.  Dessert is a choice of azuki monaka, kuzukuri or ice-cream.  I opted for ice-cream in my Spring visit which was a decent portion and came with a fresh goma and kinako sauce.  In winter, not wanting to make myself any colder, I skipped.

Hasegawa might not be serving the most expensive ingredients on the market, like at 7-chome and Kusunoki but it's less than half the price of a meal at 7-chome, very similar quantity and approaching the same quality; 5-6K less than Sonoji, Edomae Shinsaku, Motoyoshi and Mikawa and very convenient.  Hasegawa is my overall number two tempura dinner restaurant in Tokyo and number one on value.

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

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

📱 Booking: 🟩 Easy.  Same-day or advance bookings taken by phone.  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 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