The first Japanese experience has to be with a local guide or you do not get the "full" meaning of Life, Universe and Everything.
It can be a cheap and cheerful place or the most expensive you have ever had. The experience is the thing.
So, assuming that you have to be plonked at a restaurant where they will look after you and you receive at least 50% of the experience even without a local guide.......that is my difficulty.
Even the most high-end places will have a photo or real display of the menu. it is safer to go for the set menus because you can see everything upfront and also the chef would have arranged the meal in the correct order and harmony. Late Spring is a pretty good time for food. The new shoots are just out and the fish not too fatty yet. Downside is the mushrooms are not in season. Go for the "Omikase" course. This means "Trust me" and is chef's selection. It is pronounced Oh-Me-Car-Say phonetically, like those words are said in English.
Founded in 1885, one of the best tempura restaurants in Tokyo is Ginza Ten-kuni on Ginza-chuo-dori (Ginza main street) GINZA 8-9-11, which is about 8 mins walk from Shimbashi station. The Ten-ichi building is on a corner plot and marks the end of Ginza Chuo-dori.. It's a few dooors from SWATCH showrooms at the new Marc Hayek Building in Ginza. You are at the right place when you seen a huge toy shop across the road. Go to the basement restaurant even though there are about 4 floors of the same restaurant.
Show this print out to your hotel doorman to tell the driver.
Ginza Ten-Kuni
Tokyo, Chuo-ku, Ginza 8-9-11
Telephone: 03-3571-1092
Opening hours: 11:30 - 22:00 (Last Orders 21:00)
The basement is where the head chef works. Go to the counter and say "Omikase-course onegai-shimasu". He will show you a selection of raw ingredients for final veto if any itens are not to your liking. Those items will be substituted. The best items surprisingly, are the shucked corn (maize) off the cob and chicken rolls. The corn are GIANT Hokkaido variety. You get 3 pips (yes - pips) stuck on a toothpick and in tempura. Those will be the sweetest, plump parcels of Sunshine you will ever eat. The chicken meat is rolled in seaweed wrap and tempura fried so theere is almost no batter cover. Do not be afraid to ask which condiment (you get three) goes with each course. Chef can understand English even if he pretends not to.......
They only serve 1 label of hot and 1 label of cold sake. That's how selective they are about pairing wine with tempura. Of course, draft beer is available: "nama-biru". Also imported champagne and the correct white wines are stocked. Without drinks, the set meals start at 3675 Yen for lunch and 10,500 Yen for dinner.
The good news is the Namiki-dori (Namiki Street) parallel to Chuo-dori and behind the toy shop is where many watch shops are.....The Hour Glass, Chopard, Montblanc, etc.
Good luck!
MTF
