Doteno Iseya — Restaurant in Tokyo

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...

By far the best tendon I know!

I learned that the best ingredients - fresh conger eel (prepared based on order), best seasonal vegetable and pickles, and preserves the bulding as it is (it has been there for 120 years +! ) are their commitment to preserve Japan’s rich cuisine and architecture culture.

They only have 3 menu on tendon (tenpura rice) and several ala carte tempura menus to be chosen, but the anago tempura (conger eel) is definitely a must try.

Say hello to the lady owner Yoko-san when visiting the shop 😊

English visitor, you can see their English menu and their history on the website while enjoy back to Edo era and enjoying Iseya’s...

ここはかつて【東の横綱】と呼ばれたほどのお店です。 この店までは自宅からかなり遠い（電車とバスで約２時間以上はかかる）のですが、自宅近くの天丼専門店がこちらの三代目、若林喜一氏の作る天丼に影響され、10年以上前に天丼を美味しく作るための研究に研究を重ねて、蕎麦屋から天丼屋へと姿を変え、めちゃくちゃ美味しい天丼を作るので、影響を受けた元のこちらさんと比べたいと思い、来てみたらこちらも美味しいので、毎月来るようになってしまいました。 昔のラーメンブーム経験者なので開店前に来てますが、その待ち時間が１時間程度なら全く気になりません（笑）

この土手の伊勢屋さんは天麩羅の良さが際立っていると思います。 衣も粉の種類と分量と卵の量があっていてとても美味しいですし 店主が天麩羅を揚げるだけに専念し、他は全て別の店員さんに任せていますので、天麩羅に関しては最高レベルでとても良いと思います。 揚げ方に専念できているから衣の薄さも素晴らしいですし、かなり良い具を使用しているので食感のフワフワ加減もとても良いです。 特に穴子はどの店と比べてもバツグンに素晴らしいと思います。 この店より美味い天丼の穴子なんてほぼ無いのでは？

ですが、他のクチコミにて指摘されているようにタレが少し弱いですかね〜 風味はある程度あるのですがね。 丼の下に溜まったタレと混ざったご飯を見てもわかりますが、濃い茶色でなく淡い色をしています… 三代目...