Dote no Iseya

My mother introduced me to 天麩羅土手の伊勢屋 Tempura Dote no Iseya on a visit to Tokyo in 1983. We had tendon and sake. For many years, I ordered one of the tendon offerings. However, recently I skip the rice and fill up on tempura. My new favorite order is tempura moriawase 天麩羅盛り合わせ (an assortment of tempura). The fourth generation chef is Wakabayashi Kikuo (四代目店主若林喜久雄). On my banzuke (ranking) of Tokyo tempura chefs (天麩羅番付), Wakabayashi-san is a dai-yokozuna (東大横綱). The restaurant is small but cozy and akin to time travel to the Showa Era. There is a small tatami room at the back that is my favorite place to sit. The restaurant is open for lunch until 2:30 PM. Currently (March 2021) they are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. There is usually a line outside (a few stools for those at the front of the line). Generally the line moves pretty quickly. The restaurant building is a registered tangible cultural property of Tokyo. (東京都の登録有形文化財). Next door to Dote no Ise-ya is Sakura Niku Nabe Nakae (桜肉鍋 中江), a horse meat hot pot restaurant. Cherry blossom (sakura) meat is a Japanese culinary euphemism for horse meat. Nakae Sakura Niku Nabe restaurant building is also a registered tangible cultural property. Don't miss the statue of あしたのジョー Ashita no Joe a half block north of the restaurant or the Mikaeri Yanagi [The Looking Back Willow] 200 feet south of Dote no Ise-ya. The restaurant is mentioned in Jean Pearce's superb 1984 guide book "More Foot Loose in Tokyo". Although almost 40 years old, her earlier book "Foot Loose in Tokyo" and the follow up volume are still full of accurate, timely information. An appetizer shiitake mushroom with shrimp has been added. In addition, the kakiage is now a mixture of shrimp and scallops. Delicious! Still the best tempura in Japan. The large tree in front of the restaurant was cut down recently and replaced with a much shorter tree making it easier to get a good photo of the front of the historic restaurant.