Tempura Iwai is on the sixth floor of the Ginza 745 building. Initially opened in 1998 in a street nearby, the restaurant is run by a husband and wife team. The husband is the owner-chef and the wife is the Okami (proprietress).
There is a wooden counter with ten seats arrayed around it. The chef operates directly in front of the diners as he fries one piece of tempura at a time. Taihaku sesame oil is used to provide a light and crisp coating.
Tempura Iwai serves a high-end, omakase course comprised of fresh seasonal ingredients. The ingredients are carefully selected at the fish market each day by the chef himself. To ensure the highest quality possible, the contents of the course varies daily depending on market availability.
The tempura sequence consists of roughly thirteen different pieces of tempura beginning with prawns. The prawns are verifiably fresh as they may be seen moving around in a bowl before they are cooked. Some of the representative pieces in the set menu are: kiss fish, scallops, anago (salt-water eel) and vegetables. One of the stand-out tempura pieces is the sea urchin. It is only slightly cooked to give it a creamy texture to go with the rich umami taste of this delicacy. The chef will continue to serve you until you are full.
理想の天ぷら屋さん。揚げている姿が美しい。 Quote from Google Map Review
Photographers: erskertr
