Tempura Nagomi is a new concept that occupies the former sushi counter inside of i-naba. The original tempura counter is still there but is now sharing space with a sushi area.
chef hiro will be switching between both counters; working at tempura nagomi primarily and at the original on off nights. an assistant will be at the original counter when chef hiro is at nagomi.
the tempura was excellent as always and the non-tempura items were fine but i could do without them. aside from a couple special tempura pieces (fresh shrimp, amadai, snow crab) i believe you can order everything else alc at the original counter. i’m glad i tried it but next time i’ll be at the original counter ordering alc with a side of soba, battera and extra squid and shittake. or if i wanted to splurge go to tempura endo.
Thanks for the great pics and report @PorkyBelly. It seems like our initial gut reaction rang true:
Hiro-san’s Tempura is always great, but stick to the a la carte menu, and bypass the Sashimi and other items that spike up the bill. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the Tile Fish thanks.
For those who have never had high end tempura in Japan, the style of the incomplete shrimp head, is done so by design.
Those “half heads” are referred to as ebi nashi (in the case of Tempura Motoyoshi in Tokyo, one Michelin star as pictured as an example below). My best guess is that these master tempura chefs figured out a way to capture the juices in the back portion of the head from the cut, and the front side tends to be harder to bite (which is true if you ever tried to gnaw on a deep fried shrimp head or prawn head in a Cantonese restaurant that does a soy sauce pan fried or salt pepper version). So not only do you get the original flavor of the head, you also get the best possible eating experience without worrying about firm/tougher parts of the shell, as the harder parts have been removed.
I can attest to its deliciousness as I had the exact same thing at Motoyoshi a few years ago.
Tairagai is pen shell clam but some refer to it as fan shell. Typically only it’s adductor muscle is consumed. Can be served raw as nigiri, or grilled first then consumed with seaweed as isobeyaki. First time I’ve seen it in tempura form. It’s an interesting variation.
Other variants include grilled scallops (I personally like it thick uncut and medium rare at most), and grilled mochi with seaweed folded to wrap it is very classic. Freshly grilled senbei (rice crackers) brushed with a sweet soy sauce then wrapped with nori is one of the best things in the world too.
Then there’s isobemaki. Cut roll form, no rice inside.
That smelt should be wakasagi. I would have wanted shirako tempura at that price point. Baby ayu looks like shirauo
I’m so glad they’re working something else on that counter. I did the sushi counter last year and it was just plain bad. Bummer bc the tempura omakase is very good. This seems like a step up from both. Will check it, especially since I live 5 min away…
