Tempura Arata Mikawa (天ぷらあらたみかわ)

⭐⭐⭐

🍤 Tempura / 📍 Shimbashi

📓 Visits: 1

Chef Hisao Ogawa, who worked under tempura legend Tetsuya Saotome of Mikawa Zezankyo for eleven years before running Tempura Mikawa Keyakizaka, is now independent. A choice of two omakase courses which I've summarized below.

	￥9,900	￥17,600
Ebi	1	2
Ebi tama	1	2
Kisu	✅	✅
Ika	❌	✅
Ginnan	✅	✅
Myoga	✅	✅
Hamaguri	✅	✅
Shiitake	✅	?
Matsutake	❌	✅
Hotate	✅	✅
Kasugodai	✅	✅
Nasu	❌	?
Anago	✅	✅
Satsumaimo	✅	✅

All meals include an appetizer (mozoku on my visit), a choice of tendon or tencha, akadashi and dessert (azuki in jelly on my visit). I went for the cheapest course, which is only available at lunch.

Mikawa-style tempura is relatively heavy. The kasago, in particular, was quite thickly covered in batter. The tempura is fried in a mix of salad and sesame oils, which chef topped up / partly replaced once during service. There was a notable amount of grease on the paper even after the first shrimp was set down. That said, I didn't find this meal heavy. The best pieces in the set were the hamaguri and hotate, neither needing seasoning. Shiitake was heavy on the oil and "wet" but it had great flavour and I liked it. The satsumaimo was a bit dry and I've had much better anago. The closing kobashira tendon was the flabbiest ever. Flabby as soon as it was served and unevenly cooked: raw batter in some places and burned in others. The rice was a bit small and no option was given to change the size. It's a shame, as the tare was good.

Chef could name most of the ingredients in English (but not entirely accurately) and a restaurant assistant had limited English. Service could have been better. I had to ask for my daikon (which was strangely watery) to be topped up and water to be refilled. The akadashi was served lukewarm.

There are two starts at lunch: 12 and 12:30. I arrived at 12:25 and three people were already seated and had been served their appetizer but the first piece of tempura was not served until shortly after another two guests arrived after me. At what times those first three guests arrived I don't know but I'd have been pissed if I'd had been sat there from 12 and one of those guests (though she seemed to enjoy the food) couldn't wait to leave once the meal was over. As always, I recommend the latter of a staggered start when you have a choice.

There's only one course served at Mikawa Zezankyo now and it's JPY 26,400, which seems fair in 2024 for a "top" tempura restaurant in Tokyo, though how good it is I can't tell you because it's been too long since I've been and I don't intend to go back. At Tempura Mikawa Keyakizaka courses are priced at JPY 13,200, JPY 17,600 and JPY 20,900 (never visited, don't intend to). Tabelog reviews around the time of my visit suggest the more expensive course includes nasu and the shitake but that didn't appear to be the case on my visit, so I put a question mark in the comparison table. Although they were from China (domestic matsutake were not generally available this early in the year) you generously get a whole mushroom here, unlike half at most places. Either way, I don't think the more expensive course here is worth the extra over the cheaper one but 10k for 10 pieces of tempura at this level in Tokyo in 2024 is very good value. If it hadn't have been for the tendon I'd have gone back.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130802/13299995/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.82

📱 Booking: 🟩 Via TableCheck (credit card required).

📍 Location:

📶 Free WiFi? ✅ Yes

📅 Visit September 2024

🕛 Lunch 9,900

💴 Damage: 9,900 inc. water and tea
⏱️ Time taken: 1h35m

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