Deep-fried in a hurry

Pin It

I haven't seen a business associate for quite a few years, and he very kindly offered to treat me to lunch while he's in town. I was a little taken aback when Ippoh (一宝) was suggested, but I figured this was a good opportunity to return and see how I feel about the place after a few years.

We didn't have a lot of time, so I suggested we switch from the special menu that had been booked to the short course Yuki (雪) - cutting the restaurant's revenue in half. I felt bad for the chef, but we would not have finished lunch in time otherwise.

I know I was 10 minutes late to lunch, but I don't think that warranted the lack of explanation for the appetizer. We have some broad beans, Chinese yam (山芋), and a soft-boiled egg together with ponzu (ポン酢) jelly.

There's the usual salad with strips of salted kombu (塩昆布) and rakkyo (辣韮).

It's pretty standard to start with prawn heads (海老兜).

Japanese tiger prawn (車海老) - the first of two prawns is taken with lemon juice and salt.

Japanese tiger prawn with shiso (車海老と紫蘇) - the second prawn came wrapped in a perilla leaf and was taken with a dab of salt.

This was an instant upgrade thanks to the perilla leaf. The aromatics were lovely, as expected.

Corn (トウモロコシ) - always happy to eat sweet corn that's been deep-fried.

Sillago (鱚) - pretty standard for tempura course. The texture of the fish is always tender.

Lotus root (蓮根) - nice and a little stringy. My British business associate is unfamiliar with this.

Cuttlefish (烏賊) - this is often my favorite piece in a tempura course, if they serve one up that is thick enough.

And this was definitely thick enough. I know I took a pretty shitty picture of it since the camera ended up focusing on the chopsticks instead of the cuttlefish, but at least this illustrates the thickness by comparing with the chopsticks. And yes, it was very tender.

Asparagus (アスパラガス)

I usually choose tencha (天茶) when given the opportunity.

By this time my friend had to run to his next meeting, so I bid goodbye to him but stayed for dessert...

Yuzu sorbet with grapes

It was nice to have an excuse to come back here for a refresher. I don't often eat tempura outside Japan, and this place has been in the back of my mind for some time now. This is more "old school" and the batter is slightly on the thick side. Gotta say that the "standard lunch set" is fairly reasonably priced, but it certainly wasn't something that one can take when one is time-constrained...