Shirley H.
Yelp
When in Japan, I always made a point to try one restaurant that specializes in tempura. I picked Shunsaiten Tsuchiya, a 2* tempura joint this time and was very pleased with my choice.
The restaurant is about an hour trek from Osaka city center in Suita. After arriving at Esaka station, it's about 15 minutes walk to the restaurant. The restaurant is located within a residential area which you won't expect to find a restaurant in the midst of all the Japanese houses, let alone a 2* one.
Upon arrival, the rest of the guests were already seated and chef Yukihiko Tsuchisaka was ready to serve everyone. We were the only foreigners and the last to arrive albeit we were right on time for our noon time lunch reservation. When you make the reservation, you will be asked to select your choice of set lunch course. I went with the ¥22,680 (included seating charge and tax) "Tempura Only Course" as I wanted a full tempura experience instead of a half kaiseki half tempura course, after all, that's what I was there for. At first I was having doubts of my decision after seeing my neighbors being served some very nice and elegant "Hassun" (multiple small dishes) as well as everyone ordered the half kaiseki half tempura course meal except us but we were the ones that received all the envious looks from other guests as the meal progressed.
The "Tempura Only Course" consists of:
-Appetizer
-Tempura
-"Tencha" (tempura served over tea and rice) or "Tendon" (tempura served over a bowl of rice)
-Dessert
Number of tempura courses and ingredients varies depending on the season.
This was one meal to remember as we were served with top notch ingredients. A few highlights:
-Lobster tempuras
-Crab tempura topped with caviars
-A5 wagyu tempuras
Do I recommend this restaurant? You bet I do! get out of the city center and travel somewhere away from the tourist area for an authentic meal, it's all worth it!