Have you ever had a Tempura Omakase meal? I never had…I didn’t even know it was a thing! For those that don’t know, omakase is essentially just a chef’s choice meal. We had heard Tempura Kondo, which has 2 michelin stars, was a must, so it was a perfect choice for my last dinner in Tokyo. This is a place that wouldn’t bump a reservation to accommodate President Obama last year…and I respect that!

Kondo has 2 rooms, each with an L-shaped bar where you can watch your tempura being made right in front of you. We were seated at the bar in the back and were immediately faced with which of the 3 menu options we wanted to choose. We went with the middle option which includes appetizers with your tempura meal, but didn’t need the sashimi that the larger option included. Friends had been earlier in the week and recommended we splurge for the sweet potato, which is not included in the meal and takes 40 minutes to cook. We had also heard that the uni was a must to add-on to what would already be coming our way. So, our order was in and we were eager to see what was going to be served!

Our meal started with two appetizers – some fresh tofu and a beautiful and artistic tomato dish. The tomato seemed to be a sign of what was to come, as the tempura that followed was served in such a simple and yet very beautiful way.

Now, I was curious to know if wasabi salt, which I had had at another tempura meal the week before, was a common tempura accompaniment in Japan, or if it was specific to that restaurant. Turns out, it’s not typical (unfortunately for me), but Kondo served their tempura with traditional salt and the typical dipping sauce and radish.

We started with prawns. Perfectly crunchy and flavorful, without feeling too heavy – the tempura batter doesn’t overwhelm at Kondo.

 

1 stalk of large asparagus, cut in 3 pieces, and a full bell pepper, halved…

 

A delicious whitefish broke up the veggie courses

And then the veggies re-emerged, starting with mushroom and eggplant. I just love the simple approach here! Such beautiful produce, served in such a minimalist style.

  

Our uni came next. This was a pretty perfect bite! Uni, wrapped in shiso leaf, and then deep fried.

Another fish course, followed by lotus root and then okra came next.

  

Seawater Eel (Anago) and then our special sweet potato were the last of the tempura courses.

After tempura, comes Kakiage, which seems to be a traditional way to end this type of meal. This is a tempura fritter of sorts – for this meal it was scallop, shrimp and scallions tempura-d all together. We had our choice of 3 different preparations for the Kakiage, all a version of the fritter with rice, miso soup and pickles. My fritter was dipped in a rich sauce before it was served to me on rice.

A simple plate of fruit was the perfect way to end this big meal. 3 green grapes and 2 slices of white peach…hardly a dessert by US standards, and yet better and sweeter than most I’ve ever had.

This was a big meal! Very filling, and yet didn’t leave me with the heaviness that you would think all of this tempura would. It was all so simple and yet so filled with flavor! I have eaten amazingly in Japan! 2+ weeks, and 5 michelin-stars later, I wonder what I’m going to do without matcha flavored everything, freshly-grated wasabi, amazing deep-fried foods, and rich ramen!

These two weeks mark my last big hurrah of this Laid-Off Life. I have another month or so left, and will be enjoying it to the fullest, but as far as my big adventures go this was it and I couldn’t be happier that I was able to cross this one off the LOL bucketlist. I had wanted to go visit my brother and Josephine before going back to work, and it was awesome to be able to take more time than usual to spend with them and to have this adventure.

One more Japan post to come – the highly anticipated sartorial post…