Hakata Tempura Takao

Hakata Tempura Takao (博多天ぷら たかお)

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🍤 Tempura / 📍 Shibuya/Takeshiba/Azabudai Hills

📓 Visits: 1 (2023)

Hakata Tempura Takao is a chain of tempura restaurants based in Fukuoka.  In 2019 they expanded into Tokyo, first launching with the renovation of Shibuya Parco, then 10 months later at Tokyo Port City Takeshiba and most recently with the opening of Azabudai Hills.  The sets increased in price at the Shibuya branch by 200 yen in July 2023.  Menus are available in Japanese and English, which you can preview on their Website (Shibuya, Takeshiba, Azabudai Hills).  Annoyingly, they've recently removed the prices from the menus online.

I visited the Shibuya branch and chose the Seasonal Vegetables Teishoku and added a whole anago.  The teishoku comprised gobo, broccoli, onion, imo, mushroom, one shrimp and kobudai.  The batter coating the onion was not fully cooked.  The potato had little taste.  The shrimp was from frozen and disintegrated.  The kobu tasted like catfish (have a look at this and tell me you'd want to eat it).  The anago was fine but got cold quickly, probably due to A/C blast.  The salt is cheap table salt.  Miso soup was good (refills charged).  Tsukemono were excellent (refills free).  Rice is excellent, as it should be as refills are charged.  You can save a little money by requesting large rice with the set (free during lunch or +50 yen otherwise).

The tempura is served in batches so you might get one piece, then three, then two, etc.  There are over 30 seats but they limit entry in busy times.  My first attempt at dining here was at 11:15 on 2nd January and there was already a massive queue outside which I took one look at and turned back.  On another weekday just after 5pm I was seated immediately.

This is entry-level omakase-style tempura.  It's cheap and the restaurants are in good locations (Pokémon Center Shibuya and Nintendo Tokyo in the same building as the Shibuya branch) but there are too many negatives for me to actually recommend it.  If you're looking for an inexpensive and decent tempura meal I'd recommend Tempura Azabu Yokota Ginza Bettei or Yukimura. Yukimura is comparable in cost but incomparable in superiority.  The base price at Yokota is double that of here but it's much better and you get more tempura.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13241240/ (Shibuya)
📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131401/13250741/ (Takeshiba)
📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130704/13291790/ (Azabudai Hills)

❓ My Rating: ⭐ 1.9

📱 Booking: Reservations not accepted.

📍 Location: 7F Shibuya Parco.
📍 Location: 2F Tokyo Port City Takeshiba.
📍 Location: B1F Garden Plaza B, Azabudai Hills.

📅 Visit January 2023

Seasonal Vegetables Teishoku 1,400
Anago 1,700
Rice refill 160

💴 Damage: 3,260
⏱️ Time taken: 40m