Tempura Miyashiro — Restaurant in Tokyo

Fantastic experience that really show cased each ingredient. The tempera batter and fry was merely a way to gift wrap the ingredient and emphasize the ingredients texture and flavor against a light crisp batter. I liked how many of the ingredients were served with individual parts separated or variations, like shrimp to different doneness or asparagus bud vs stem. The space is beautiful and you get to see the tempura being fried in front of you.

ikura, maitake, seaweed - a nice sampling of the sea to whet the appetite for some crispy food

Scallop sashimi cubes in soy sauce and again with some bitter herbs. Texture was really good and I liked the variation.

Shrimp medium and well done - I really like when 2 things are shown together so the differences can be highlighted. In this case the well down shrimp is more typical with the bouncy meaty shrimp, while the medium was a more melty sweet shrimp.

Shrimp legs - yummy, like the OG shrimp cracker.

Ginko nuts - newish food to me. Kind of pungent but the kind of gummy potato texture was nice contrast to the tempura.

Tempura seaweed with uni and caviar - felt more indulgent but you know it’s going to be good. Uni quality was fantastic

Maitake - this one was really fun just because of all the surface area where the batter could get too. Truly an intricate webbing of deep fry batter that made this one extra crispy

Anago body (conger saltwater eel) - the nuance of anago vs unagi is a little lost on me since I rarely eat eel in America, but in general it felt like a very light whitefish with a bit more meaty/mealy texture and no flaking. The fillets are thin and so the tempura batter is more prominent. The eel almost becomes a blank canvas here for the tempura batter to shine.

Lotus root - very different from eel in that this is thick, chunky, and has a lot of bite to it. The starchiness makes this almost feel like the rice dish to fill you up after many little, more delicate bites.

Snow crab claw w/ sweet chili sauce - anyone who’s prepared crab knows how satisfying it is to each that perfectly pulled large lump of claw meat. This was yummy and generous amount of crab meat, though kind of stringy.

Shitake - can’t remember anything special, but its a good shiitake mushroom…

Asparagus bud/root - chunky asparagus. Feels like the fillet mignon of asparagus in that it was tender, all the fiber removed, but with a meaty bite. This was a highlight. The root was much more tough and cooked long accordingly, but it was a nice reminder of how special the bud was.

Anago tail and anago tendon - nice simple fried seafood. The tendon with the sauce was addictive. Each bite of steamy rice made me want the saucy tempura and then back to the rice. I had a large portion and wanted to keep eating.

Matcha + red bean jelly - a nice way to end the meal. Matcha was strong and cleaned the pallets and red bean jelly was a cooling and...

We booked through a friend in Japan for 3 people quite in advance. We’re tourists from Taiwan, and have been looking forward to Tempura Miyashiro. On the day of the reservation we called in the morning to see if it was possible to add one more person to the reservation, and was told that it would be no problem.

When we got to the restaurant around dinner time, the additional person fell sick and could not make the dinner. We were told that there would be a cancellation fee of 25k JPY. While we understand the need for a cancellation fee, especially for the limited seats in the restaurant, the attitude of the waiter/server was extremely rude, stern, and just unacceptable. She basically was not willing to accept any form of explanation, let alone explain their cancellation fee policies in a polite manner. The only thing she was willing to repeat is “だめ”. We ultimately left the restaurant without having started eating.

If she was a bit more polite or at least hear out our case, I think we would’ve been willing to listen. But given:

1. the seats in the restaurant was not filled, so our one extra person reservation change was not taking up another potential customer (there were empty seats)
2. we called on the same day, and was not informed over the phone of a cancellation fee. Our Japanese friend who did the reservation also did not inform us of the cancellation fee policy, so we were a bit taken back.
3. It would’ve been an incredibly awkward and uncomfortable experience for us to sit through the dinner given the terribly rude attitude we were received in, especially after essentially being forced to pay a large cancellation fee that we had no knowledge of. Similar situations in the past the restaurant would offer charging only half the cancellation fee or waiving the fee entirely for the sake of customer service.

Overall, we really looked forward to dining at Tempura Miyashiro. The chef seemed to be very professional and the food from the pictures looked impeccable. This was also a restaurant recommended to us by our friend in Japan. However I would not recommend coming here based just on the hostile attitude we were received in. I hope the chef can reconsider how his servers treat the customers. For an expensive dining experience in Japan, where customer service is known to be a priority, we were very surprised by...

I recently dined at Tempura Miyashiro on New Year's Eve, expecting it to be a memorable meal to conclude 2023. Sadly, my experience was marred by unfair and impolite treatment from the receptionist. While the chef's culinary skills were commendable, the service I received left much to be desired.

To begin with, when I called to confirm my reservation, the receptionist struggled to communicate in English and abruptly informed me that my name was not on the reservation list before abruptly hanging up the phone. This initial interaction left me feeling unwelcome and frustrated.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, the same receptionist simply pointed to the drink list, expecting us to read it ourselves. I couldn't help but notice that she had taken the time to explain the drink list to other customers. This inconsistency in treatment was disheartening and made me feel like a second-class guest.

Furthermore, when my sake glass was empty, she promptly removed it without asking if I would like another drink. However, I observed her asking other customers if they wished to order another beverage. This selective attention to other patrons while neglecting my needs was both unfair and unprofessional.

To make matters worse, during the table cleaning process, the lady was removing the dishes between my girlfriend and me, resulting in an uncomfortable body contact. Shockingly, she didn't offer an apology for her oversight. This lack of basic courtesy and disregard for customer comfort was deeply disappointing.

Despite the unsatisfactory service, I must acknowledge the chef's efforts. He went out of his way to explain each dish in English, and the food itself was truly delightful. However, considering the steep price of over 40,000 yen per person, I believe it is reasonable to expect a higher level of service.

Regrettably, due to my overall experience with the receptionist, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend Tempura Miyashiro to others or envision myself returning. It is unfortunate that such excellent culinary offerings are overshadowed by subpar service. I sincerely hope that the management takes this feedback into consideration and works towards improving the overall...