IT'S been three years since Shinji Shiraishi branched out with Tenshin, and it is still the only specialty tempura restaurant in town. As might be expected of a culinary enterprise involving him, the restaurant, discreetly located in the Regent Hotel, offers a very high level of food and service.
Regular visitors to tempura restaurants in Tokyo will claim, with some justification, that the quality of the tempura at Tenshin is still a little below the level at some of the top restaurants there, such as Hayashi and Mikawa, but that owes more perhaps to the lack of available ingredients than any shortcomings on the part of Tenshin chef Hideaki Onodera.
Anyone in need of a tempura fix won't be disappointed by a visit to Tenshin. The cooking method - seafood and vegetables deep fried in batter - was first introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Each chef has his own formula for the cooking oil and flour for the batter, as well as the precise temperature the food should be cooked at. All too often, tempura is reduced to mediocrity by uncaring chefs with a lack of understanding of the cuisine but when done well, it achieves something close to culinary perfection.
