Tenpura Sazen (左膳) is one of my hidden finds in Ginza district. The plan was to visit another famous tempura restaurant which unfortunately had closed down. Without any backup plans in mind, we walked around the vicinity and found this.
A quick look at the menu shows that this restaurant specialises in Tempura and Soba. As Soba was still on our checklist, we decided to head in to try out their soba.
Black Pig Tempura [850 ¥] – These are thinly sliced pork from the black pig and coated with tempura batter. It is unique because we usually eat pork in katsu form and this is different, as it uses the tempura batter. I like how tender the pork was with the crisp batter. Those who prefer a tougher bite might not like this version though.
Goma Soba [1100 ¥] – The good thing about the Soba here is that you can choose from hot/cold options. I went for the cold soba, in particular Goma Soba which is buckwheat noodles dipped in Sesame Sauce. The flavour of the sesame sauce goes extremely well with the noodles and I finished every strand of the noodles.
This was my complete meal which consisted of Goma Soba + Black Pig Tempura.
Tendon Set [1850 ¥] – If you prefer rice, you can choose their famous tempura which comes with rice. This was part of their promotional item.
They don’t have any English menu but the staff is able to converse in both English and Chinese. We visited the branch at Ginza but they also have several branches around Tokyo.
So if you are looking for a place with good tempura and soba, this is an option for you.
