Kitsune: A Great Casual Tempura Restaurant

A lot of tempura restaurants are fancy and it shows in the bill when you pay, however I recently visited a modern, casual tempura specialty restaurant and was very satisfied with the overall dining experience.

The "sign" outside Tampura Sakaba Kitsune restaurant

On a Friday night it might be best to make a reservation before you go, as I had to wait about 20 min to get a seat. Once seated, the menu was explained to us: there is an otoshi (an appetizer dish that acts a seating charge) of raw daikon and a miso meat dip of which both are all-you-can-eat, their signature item is the chicken breast tempura, there is a seasonal menu in addition to the main menu, and if you're a woman you can order one free alternative tempura dipping sauce flavour.

The first thing we ordered was a delicate tempura shiso leaf with an ikura (salmon fish roe) and grated daikon topping. It was wonderful and bursting with umami from the fish eggs and the aromatic crispy leaf. It definitely set the stage for what was to come.

Shiso tempura with ikura and grated daikon topping

We also ordered the signature chicken breast tempura which was unbelievably juicy, and the shrimp tempura which was so very plump. The dip that comes with it is the standard ten-tsuyu (dashi with soy sauce and mirin). This tempera was not oily at all, a good sign of a professional. What is interesting about this restaurant is that they also have tempura that is a bit unconventional such as uni sandwich (sea urchin tofu wrapped in seasoned Korean seaweed), pork negima (skewered pork and Japanese leek), seasoned soft-boiled egg, camembert cheese and honey (a bit dessert-like), and crab cream tempura (a tempura version of a cream croquette). All worked really well, I personally like the crab cream, with a soft and silky texture with a kani-miso (crab guts) sauce which accentuated the flavour of crab.

Chicken tempura on lower half

They do have an extensive list of non-fried items in case you need a break from tempura. For example we had aji ponzu (a type of fish sashimi with a ponzu sauce) which in my opinion needed a bit more ponzu. We also tried the garlic broccoli and squid saute, pickled cucumber (a bit too salty) and clams simmered in sake (a simple dish but the clams make the broth just perfect for a warm ending to the meal).

Area: a 1-minute walk from Iwatsuka station 岩塚駅  Higashiyama Line  東山線
Restaurant: Tempura Sakaba Kitsune 天ぷら酒場キツネ
Map: https://r.gnavi.co.jp/sr6nm5sr0000/map/
Hours: Weekdays 5-12pm (LO 11pm), Weekends and Holidays 3-12pm (LO 11pm)