つな八

On the weekend my husband had to be at Takashimaya to get measured for a shirt (his father game him a gift certificate for some tailer-made dress shirts), and since I had a few gift certificates of my own I came along and we had lunch afterwards. Called hyakkaten shouhin ken, these can be used at top-class department stores for almost any purchase, including food and meals, and are extremely popular gifts for any occasion. We are lucky to receive them from time to time but so rarely go to hyakkaten (fancy department stores like Takashimaya, Isetan and Mitsukoshi) that we have trouble using them. In fact, we couldn't even remember where we got these particular ones.

We had 10,000 yen worth, which is certainly a lot but rather hard to spend on clothes, since almost nothing is that cheap (at least not the clothes that I can fit into), and it seems silly to spend it on accessories or housewares that would be far cheaper elsewhere. So the logical thing to do was spend them on a meal, since hyakkaten often have very nice, but expensive, restaurants.

We decided on Tsunahachi, a tempura restaurant. We'd had a great meal years ago at the original shop in Shinjuku, which is over 80 years old--and shows it. The food was good and the atmosphere was cozy, but the interior was a bit dingy. It is so popular, though, that it now has branches all over, including a sleek modern one in Takashimaya. The prices seem a bit higher there than at the old place, but since it wasn't my actual money I didn't mind paying a little more for the location.

We chose the Edo-mae zencourse, one of the more expensive options. Sitting at the counter, we got to watch the chef cook our tempura and serve it to us straight from the pot, but unfortunately the lighting was a wee bit on the dark side and the pictures didn't turn out very well. So just try to imagine everything brighter, prettier and more delicious-looking.

The course started with kuruma ebi shrimp, the head (rendered light, crisp and fully edible) served first. The contrast of the plump, tender flesh and the crunchy exterior was wonderful. Not just with the shrimp, but every seafood item served for the rest of the meal; please tack the previous sentence onto all of the following descriptions.

Next was renkon (lotus root), then ika (squid). Some of the softest, most succulent squid I've ever had. The renkon was the only item of the meal that wasn't soft, but the root's own special kind of heavy crunchiness (think of a firmer, less watery water chestnut and you're close) did go nicely with the lighter crispness of the batter.

Myouga(ginger bud) was refreshingly myouga-ey (and if that doesn't make sense imagine the very freshest ginger you've had, refined and sweetened).

The cleverest dish was a large asari clam (the biggest I've seen) fried on the half shell. It was easier to eat than I thought it would be, as the clam had been cut up first. I'm not sure if being in the shell was the reason, but the flesh was incredibly plump and juicy, worlds apart from the rubbery fried clams we get back home.

Next, a refreshing orange jelly. I think. It wasn't on the menu and neither of us caught the description. Behind it are four different kinds of salt: regular sea salt, matcha (powdered green tea) salt, sanshou (prickly ash pepper) salt and yuzu citrus salt. It was fun trying all the different salts but, except for the squid and the scallop, the tempura tasted best in the traditional dipping sauce of soy-based broth (housed in the pitcher above) mixed with daikon oroshi (grated daikon radish).

I think this was my favourite of all: hotate (scallop). Cooked perfectly rare (this picture doesn't show the lovely pink centre), this was heavenly. It definitely went well with a squeeze of lemon and a tiny dip in plain salt.

Anago (sea eel), first its spine (very crunchy, I could eat these like potato chips) and then the flesh, cut in half. Very mild and tender.

The last tempura dish was ko-ebi kaki-age, a disc of small shrimp held loosely together by batter. This one had a mild taste and lots of crunch.

The course finished with rice, pickles and shijimi jiru(miso soup with tiny clams), or at least it did for me.

My husband got lucky: the chef overheard him saying he wished he could have his final piece of tempura as kaki-age don(a popular dish consisting of kaki-age over rice, with a slightly sweet soy-based sauce), so that's what got. Normally I don't like kaki-age don or tendon (the same but with regular tempura) as the sauce is usually too sweet and rich and tends to be poured on so heavily that the batter loses its crispness. But I regret not asking for this for myself as well, because the sauce was light and added with restraint.

The meal came to about 9000 yen (including two drinks), which is more than I'd want to pay for tempura, as good as this was. But we'll definitely be here again for one of the cheaper options.

Shinjuku Tsunahachi (English webpage here)
Takashimaya Branch
(03) 5361-1860
13th floor, Takashimaya Times Square
5-24-2 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open daily 11 to 11

Comments

[Junkgirl]

Nice tempura course. I discovered your blog recently and have added it to my 'blogs i follow' list because it is very interesting. Gives me ideas on preparing my meals.

[Skye]

That looks delicious. I have recently (finally , thanks to a temperature setting on my new stove) learned how to make decent tempura, and I'm curious to try my hand at seafood options. Not having tried the original above I don't think I'll be too disappointed by my own efforts. Do you make your own tempura at all?

[Camemberu]

That meal looks so delicate and delicious! Makes me want to go back to Tsunahachi again...ah sigh.

[kat]

very pricey, but looks really good!

[Mama BoK]

Not bad for about $85cdn.. :)

[Alex Case]

Tempura is just too refined for my tastes I think, but eating a crunchy spine and from a whole battered shell would still be worth it for the wow factor I think.

[Garon]

Wow, the tempura looks very well prepared and fresh. I would want to try the Sea Eel! Puts the tempura we get here by the baskets in Toronto!

[Marijoe]

What a great way to redeem your gift certificates ;-). Every time we are in Tokyo, we go to Tsunahachi. Soooo gooood...
This is the only place on Earth where I can wait hours to be seated at the kitchen counter...
I am hungry now...

[Amy]

Thanks Junkgirl!

Skye, good for you for making decent tempura! You're way ahead of me, my few attempts haven't been so succesful. I think I just need more practice but with the easy availability of good tempura here I have such little incentive. But if you have any useful tips let me know!

Thanks Camemberu, Kat, MamaBok and Garon!

Alex, this was pretty fancy stuff but I don't consider tempura a particularly refined food. But if you really dislike it you can try a similar fried spine at a good unagi restaurant.

Marijoe, I do remember happily lining up at the original branch, but the one at Takashimaya was nearly empty--on a Saturday! I wonder if it's the slightly higher prices that keep people away, or maybe the lack of the cozy, grungy atmosphere.