天ぷら 深町(Tempura Fukamachi)

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特製かき揚天丼、¥2100。

Tempura restaurant which is quite expensive at night, but at lunch time, other than the tempura set(tempura and rice come separately) and tempura full courses with prices ranging from 5000yen to 7000yen, a more purse-friendly option of 2100yen kakiage-tendon(very delicious) is also available. The content of the tendon changes with seasons – when we went there were asparagus, soramame, small prawn, scallop etc. in it. The chef used to work in the famous tempura restaurant in Yamonoue hotel which I have tried before and is a big fan. Reservation at lunch is only possible if you order the more expensive set/course. I went without reservation on a weekday, arriving at around 12:30pm and it wasn’t so full. But while we were eating people kept coming in and just before 13pm, the place was packed. It is a small restaurant with mainly counter seats but there are also two tables for two.
Lunch menu(J) here.

天ぷら 深町
Add: 2-5-2, Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5250-8777

てんぷらと和食 山の上ホテル(Tempura Yamanoue)

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天丼、¥3360。
Tendon: prawn, kakiage with prawn, fish and shishitou pepper.
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Very famous tempura restaurant inside Hilltop Hotel. It was a bit of a quest to find the entrance…I went to the annex building, couldn’t find it, got out, went into the main building, couldn’t find it, got out, followed the tempura-ish smell and finally found the small sign leading to the hidden entrance outside the hotel building. ^^;;
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かき揚げ天丼、¥2887。穴子天丼、¥3465。
Kakiage-tendon. Anago tendon.
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野菜天丼、¥2887。 天丼、¥3360。
Took a friend there and I had Yasai Tendon and she had Tendon. The prices include 5% tax and 10% service charge(even at lunch time!).

The sauce is this restaurant’s original and you can choose between “amakuchi”(甘口) and “karakuchi”(辛口). The staff said they are just the same sauce – “karakuchi” is just less sweet than “amakuchi”. I personally prefer karakuchi.

Probably the most “elegant” tendon I have ever had. All the tendon I had before felt cheap in comparison…both taste-wise and price-wise. ^^;;;

There are other lunch menu such as Ebi(prawn) Tendon, a luxurious Iki-Ebi Tendon which has a whooping price tag of 5040yen(plus tax and SC of course). Tempura full courses are also available at lunch time. Seating includes counter, tables, and zashiki.

Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.

山の上ホテル
Hilltop Hotel/Yamanoue Hotel(English available)
There is also a Roppongi branch inside Tokyo Midtown.

神田まつや (Kanda Matsuya)

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大ごまそば、¥850。
Famous soba place established in 1884. The present building – dated from 1925 – is one of the historical architectures in Tokyo.
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そばとろ、¥900。天丼、¥1900。
Soba toro(grated yam). Tendon(rice with prawn tempura).
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かしわ南ばん、¥950。 力うどん、¥950。
Kashiwa(chicken) Nanban. Chikara(grilled mochi) udon.
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にしんそば、¥1000。鴨南ばん、¥1600。
Nishin soba – soba with smoked sweet-flavoured herring(Kyoto origin). The fish tastes like the canned ones…not my cup of tea.
Kamo-nanban(Duck soba). Very good!
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親子南ばん、¥1000。 花巻、¥850。
Oyako(chicken and egg) Nanban. Hana-maki – soba with seaweed.
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鴨せいろう、¥1600。カレー南ばん、¥950。
Kamo(duck) Seiro. Curry Nanban.
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鍋焼うどん、¥1000。
Nabe-yaki udon – udon hotpot.
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おかめとじ、¥1000。 おかめ、¥950。
(Right)Okame soba : soba with Yuba, tamago-yaki, shiitake mushroom, kamaboko, bamboo shoot, seaweed, spinach.
(Left)Okame-toji soba: Okame soba with egg on top. Very good!
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寄せ鍋うどん、¥1200。 小田巻きむし、¥1100。
Yosenabe Udon. Super delicious! So many ingredients(including my beloved mochi) in it.
Odamakimushi: chawanmushi with udon(just a little bit) at the bottom. Need to wait for 15mins but totally worth it.
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かき揚天丼、¥1000。 雛そば くさきり、¥1000。
Kakiage-tendon. Not only kakiage, but also two prawn tempura. The prawns are smaller than the more expensive “Tendon”, but tasty enough.
Soba made with yomogi(limited period).

Not only soba, udon is good too. Tsuyu(soup) is delicious. Nothing I ordered was disappointing but yosenabe and okame-toji stand out the most. Portion is not big, so I always order L portion, which is an extra 100yen(the price quoted above are all for regular portion). The staff are very friendly but they don’t keep very good track of who ordered what. I always order L size but they never remember that – I have to remind them to charge me 100yen more each time. ^^;;

Look at the queue during New Year holiday…normally it is crowded and you may have to wait a bit and share a table during busy lunch hour, but I’ve never seen a queue like this outside a soba place…
Menu(J): 1, 2.
神田まつや
Add: 1-13, Sudacho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3251-1556

よし房凛 (Yoshibourin)

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田舎蕎麦、¥750。 小天丼、¥500。
Inaka(country) soba and small tendon(tempura on rice).
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辛味大根あげ餅そば、¥950。 小天丼、¥500。
きざみそば(焼き油揚げと薬味合わせ)、¥950。
Radish and fried mochi soba, and a small tendon.
Kizami soba: Aburaage and seaweed etc.
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ごぼう天そば、¥1000。 磯天おろしそば、¥1300。
Burdock root(gobo) tempura soba.
Isoten oroshi soba.
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鴨南蛮、¥1600。 かき揚せいろ、¥1400。
Kamo-nanban: duck soba.
Kakiage(mixed tempura fritter) seiro.
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天せいろ、¥1600。 地蔵そば、¥950。
Seiro soba with tempura.
Jizou soba: Aburaage and ankake(thick starchy sauce with soy sauce taste).
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梅そば、¥1050。
Ume(sour plum) soba.
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山かけ、¥950。
Yamakake: Grated yam with quail egg.
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そばがき、¥1050。
Sobagaki- kneaded buckwheat dough, served hot with soy sauce.

A soba place that I am totally addicted to. Everything is so delicious. Not only the soba noodles that is fantasic, but also the tempura, the duck, and many other toppings. For a soba place, the price is very reasonable considering the portion and the quality. Getting a small tendon(500yen) will make even a big eater like me leave with a happily stuffed belly. I tried almost everything in the lunch menu and all are so great that I don’t mind going back for another round of the menu again, especially because you can choose either hot noodles with soup, or cold ones without soup, and I want to try both!
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.
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蕎麦味噌の春巻き。越前おろし蕎麦。
Some old visits from here. Soba spring roll with miso and shiso, very good! Echizen soba: radish, spring onion and dried bonito. It is not bad but I think there is too much radish…at the end I could just taste the radish. Shouldn’t have mixed them all even though the lady staff told me to.
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060609 025.jpgせいろ、750円。小天丼、500円。 Mini tempura rice bowl is very good!! So good!! Mainly vegetables, also prawns, all freshly fried and light. And after devouring the rice bowl, so happy that there was still the yummy seiro soba waiting, which was sweet in a natural buckwheaty way. Even the small pickle dish and the soba-yu(the hot water used in boiling the soba, usually they give you a pot and you pour it into the leftover soy sauce which you dipped the soba with, and drink it like a soup.) were good.

0605029 009.jpg田舎蕎麦、750円。
Inaka soba.

よし房凛(Yoshibourin)
Add: 2-36-1, Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Tel: 03-3823-8454

天丼 いもや (Imoya)

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海老天丼、¥750。
“Imoya” is famous for its tempura and tonkatsu(pork cutlet). Sort of a chain, with a dozen of branches distributed around Jimbocho/Kanda area. This one is specialised in tendon(tempura on rice). Of course not the delicate high-end tempura. This shop’s selling point is cheap, quick, and big portion. The normal tendon is 500yen which is incredibly cheap. I ordered the more expensive Ebi-tendon, expecting a few more pieces of tempura, but instead I got the same amount but with the fish and the squid both switched to ebi(prawn). Guess it is better to just order the basic tendon, and add extra tempura which are like 100yen a piece. I have visited the tonkatsu branch(see tag) which I like more.
天丼 いもや