I try to fit in a tempura (天ぷら) meal every time I’m in Japan, and this trip I decided to check out Fukamachi (深町), which have themselves a little macaron. The location was pretty convenient and we ended up there for the second half of the lunch session.
They open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Arriving at 12:30 p.m. gave us less than 1 hour for lunch, and the staff asked to make sure that we were OK with finishing a little earlier. Psychologically I felt a little rushed from the start.
I chose the most extensive menu, which gives you 2 prawns, 3 different types of fish, 5 types of veg, and a bowl of rice topped with a prawn cake. Pricing-wise, the addition of the prawn cake over rice costs an additional JPY 2,000… which seems kinda steep to me.
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Prawn heads– two prawn heads arrive to tell us that the tails are coming next.
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Prawn (車海老)
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Icefish (白魚)– I nicked a few of these from my friend who opted out of prawns.
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Prawn (車海老)– second piece.
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Japanese angelica shoots (たらの芽)
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Butterbur bud (蕗の薹)– a huge one, curiously served whole. I took it in one bite and had a little trouble chewing on it. Bitter as expected.
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Japanese sillago (鱚)
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Bamboo shoot (筍)– from Kyoto (京都). Very young and sweet, nice crunch.
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Scallop (帆立貝) – very, very nicely done. Mi-cuit!
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Lily bulb (百合根)– took a piece from Hello Kitty.
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Shiitake mushroom (椎茸)
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Green asparagus (アスパラ)– very nice as it’s in season.
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White asparagus (白アスパラ)– stole a section from Hello Kitty. Very, very nice.
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Conger eel (穴子)– pretty good.
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Tencha (天茶) - we had a choice and I would always pick this option. The kakiage (かき揚げ) is served over rice ochatsuke (お茶漬け) style.
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Apple sorbet (りんごシャーベト)– pretty nice, actually.
We managed to finish just around 1:30 p.m., but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The ventilation was poor and I walked out smelling like I’ve been deep-fried. And there were times when a second piece was placed in front of me before I had a chance to pick up the previous item. So in that sense, it’s a little like being at Tempura Kondo (てんぷら 近藤)... and that's not a place I would return to anytime soon.
P.S. Hello Kitty took the vegetarian option and was very happy with her meal of fresh, seasonal vegetables.
They open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Arriving at 12:30 p.m. gave us less than 1 hour for lunch, and the staff asked to make sure that we were OK with finishing a little earlier. Psychologically I felt a little rushed from the start.
I chose the most extensive menu, which gives you 2 prawns, 3 different types of fish, 5 types of veg, and a bowl of rice topped with a prawn cake. Pricing-wise, the addition of the prawn cake over rice costs an additional JPY 2,000… which seems kinda steep to me.
We managed to finish just around 1:30 p.m., but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The ventilation was poor and I walked out smelling like I’ve been deep-fried. And there were times when a second piece was placed in front of me before I had a chance to pick up the previous item. So in that sense, it’s a little like being at Tempura Kondo (てんぷら 近藤)... and that's not a place I would return to anytime soon.
P.S. Hello Kitty took the vegetarian option and was very happy with her meal of fresh, seasonal vegetables.