Experiences / Dining
A tempura counter
天ぷらのカウンター てんぷらのかうんたー
Food · High-end · Book ahead
Ten seats, one cook, a copper pot of sesame oil: each piece fried in front of you and placed on paper the moment it is ready. Ginza and Nihonbashi have the great houses, some in their third generation; lunch is a fraction of dinner. Ask for the course and eat each piece within the minute.
- How to arrange it
- Book through the hotel a week ahead for dinner; lunch at the old houses often takes walk-ins at 11:45.
- Price band
- ¥¥¥
- Allow
- 90 min
- Where
- Ginza, Nihonbashi, Asakusa
Where to book it
Ginza
Tempura Kondo
てんぷら 近藤
¥¥¥¥ · 90 min · English: yes
A two-Michelin-star tempura specialist on a Sakaguchi Building floor near Ginza Station, known for putting root vegetables and pumpkin on equal footing with seafood. Chef Fumio Kondo built the restaurant's reputation on precise, individually timed frying at a 20-seat counter rather than banquet-style service.
Ginza
Ten-ichi Ginza Honten
天ぷら 天一 銀座本店
¥¥¥ · 75 min · English: yes
Founded in 1930, Ten-ichi is credited with helping popularize tempura as fine dining rather than street food, and its Namiki-dori honten still seats guests around the open fryer to watch each piece cooked to order. The English-language site and TableCheck booking make it one of the more visitor-accessible historic counters.
Named operators, each verified against its official site. We list the booking route and whether English is spoken; hours and prices live on the official site. All operators