Today we had a tempura lunch at Tatsumi at the Palace Hotel Tokyo, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. This is one of the top restaurants in Japan, and I consider it one of the best restaurants for Japanese food in Tokyo.

Tatsumi is a small restaurant with excellent Japanese food and flawless service.

THIRD TIME LUCKY AT TATSUMI AT THE PALACE HOTEL IN TOKYO

I stayed at the Palace Hotel Tokyo for three nights last winter. On this visit, I really wanted to eat at Tatsumi. Unfortunately it was actually full for all three days except for a very late lunch. So on this trip to Tokyo, I made sure to book early.

The ingredients for tempura at Tatsumi are all from the best food sources in Japan. Everything is local. Furthermore, the chef prepares everything in front of you so you are guaranteed the freshness of your meal.

I also like the style of frying here. The batter is very light and so every piece is perfectly crisp. Furthermore, the restaurant serves six kinds of salt and two kinds of garnish.

SHRIMP FROM OKINAWA AND SALT FROM THE ANDES

Today we began with shrimp from Okinawa. The chef fried the shrimp heads first and then the body of the shrimp. He advised us to eat these with Okinawa salt. He also had pink salt from the Andes on hand. I really liked this tasty salt with the shrimp as well.

INGREDIENTS FOR TEMPURA

A Japanese fish called aji is a mainstay in any tempura restaurant. But at Tatsumi at the Palace Hotel Tokyo, the aji is just perfectly done. Another memorable tempura was the eggplant from Gunma Prefecture.

Usually, deep-fried eggplant is quite crisp outside and inside. But the eggplant today was crisp on the outside and perfectly soft inside. We were asked to eat this with some dashi sauce and grated daikon.

At the end of the meal, the chef asked us if we wanted to order pickled plum tempura. Pickled plums? This is the only restaurant that has ever offered us this unique Japanese food so of course we said yes right away.

This is not an in-your-face kind of meal. It whispers rather than shouts. And today’s lunch was a most delicious meal in a very subtle way.

Read more about articles about the best restaurants of Tokyo in Travelife Magazine.

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