Ten Ichi, Ginza

When this restaurant is Googled, all you get are fav reviews of this restaurant. Some say its one of the best tempura restaurants in Japan.

Tempura is one of the easiest foods to eat in Japan. Most everyone likes it and its available everywhere. Its simple food, the basic ingredient, deep fried with a light crispy batter. Take a string bean, deep fry it. The high heat ensures you probably wont get food poisoning. The simplicity ensures there are no hidden ingredients to baulk at the taste. I like it mostly because of all the types of Japanese foods, this has the most vegetables.

Then you have Ten ichi.

There is tempura and there is tempura. Here the most excellent vegetables are sourced specifically for its freshness and natural tastes. The batter is perfectly mixed to form a crispy outer coating to cook the vegetable quickly and seal in all its goodness. The oil perfectly clean heated in a copper basin with thermometer attached.

When the food is served, the chef gently explains how to eat it - the prawn head: with salt only, the prawn: with salt and lemon then the fish and vegetables, as you wish - salt or the delicious home made tempura dressing with grated daikon.

Seated around the chef, each morsel is served consecutively. He watches how you eat, and times the moment to start cooking the next selection. It starts with prawns, vegetable, fish vegetables, fish, etc ending with a mixed tempura on rice.

Nathan asked for a second helping of asparagus, which cost USD5. He wont eat asparagus without being reminded of this visit.

So I took my Dad to this restaurant. The chef had changed to a younger person. My previous visit with Jon and Suzi the older one was training the new one. I hope he enjoyed it.

I noticed yet another wonderful thing here: the rice at the end. They serve a smaller grain rice than I have tried before. The smallness reminded me of broken rice at home, but you could feel each roundness tinier than what we are used to. perfect.