てんぷら 近藤

Tempura built around vegetables as much as seafood. Where Edo‑mae tempura traditionally centered on fish and shellfish, Kondo sources unusual produce directly from growers and makes it the main act: a thick round of sweet potato turned slowly in the oil for more than thirty minutes until the inside is creamy, carrot cut into fine threads and fried into a delicate standing tangle, oysters crisp outside and still soft within. The seafood is there too; what changed tempura here is what came out of the field. Courses only, served across the counter.

The phone is answered in Japanese, and the house does not publish call hours. Online, seats are sold through Ikyu and Tabelog — both Japanese‑language — and the official site directs overseas guests to the house’s official route for overseas guests, My Concierge Japan. Older reports describe a release on the first business day of each month, covering dates through the end of the month two months ahead; the house itself does not publish a rule, and Ikyu often shows open dates a few weeks out. Lunch runs in two seatings, dinner in four two‑hour slots from 17:00. The restaurant closes on Sundays, and on Mondays that fall on a public holiday; Tabelog notes it may also close on an occasional Wednesday.

Cancellations are charged in full from the day before, and changes made on the day carry the same charge. Children of middle‑school age and older are welcome; younger children are not. There is no dress code and no service charge. What the booking pages cannot settle — which seating suits you, how to handle an allergy before the course is composed, whether two or three can sit together on a busy night — is decided on a Japanese phone call, which is the call our desk makes.