Tempura Endo Yasaka

Tempura is one of the absolute classics of Japanese cuisine. In Kyoto, Endo Yasaka is particularly famous for its deep-fried delicacies. The restaurant is located in a large, winding building and offers guests private dining rooms of varying sizes and layouts – each with its own chef, so that the tempura experience can be celebrated directly in front of and with guests. Of course, the rooms with an open counter are particularly recommended – this way, you can sit right in the middle of the action and watch all the work being done. The menu changes seasonally and can be varied only in its scope, between 12 and 15 small courses.

The great art of a tempura is, first of all, of course, in the preparation and dosing of the wafer-thin batter (made of rice flour, egg and ice water), as well as in the selection and cutting of the fried product. It took five years to train Seiki Utsonomiya, our chef for the evening. Someday, he told us during the dinner, he would like to open no restaurant himself and offer his skills under his own direction. Perhaps also as a partner of the endo. The second restaurant of the house will open in Beverly Hills in a few weeks.

[metaslider id=”9555″]

After a day of sightseeing in this wonderful city, we look forward to the meal ahead – and are confident that we have lost at least some of the calories that are about to follow among Kyoto’s many temples. Because unlike a lot of what you usually eat in Japan, tempura is a bit out of the ordinary. At least in terms of the significantly higher fat content. By the way, Endo only uses oil from cottonseed for frying.

[metaslider id=”9545″]

The menu starts with two amouse, which were the only courses of the evening that were not deep-fried. Many courses tend to be vegetarian in the classic tempura, but depending on the scope of the chosen menu, there are also various fish and seafood dishes. The sequence of courses is exceptionally brisk – and as is customary in Japan, the menu concludes with a rice dish. Even though the steps in the frying process always seem to be the same, you can feel the tradition and the long learned craft here as well. Each product requires a slightly different cooking point, the correct dosage of the batter is essential and, of course, the exact size of the product to be fried.