Shunsaiten Tsuchiya, Osaka

Our short stay in Osaka was almost entirely consumed by day trips away (to Himeji and Miyajima), but I took care to arrange two dinners in the city.

After all, Osaka is known to be particularly food-obsessed – the word kuiadore, which essentially means to eat until you go broke, is specially applied to its residents.  In some ways Osaka reminds me of Chicago, a “second city” that takes pride in its cuisine from the inexpensive (whether Italian beef or takoyaki) to the high end.

One of my choices was Shunsaiten Tsuchiya for tempura.  In Japan, tempura is treated like sushi, prepared piece by piece and served immediately across the counter by the chef, so it’s an experience worth seeking out.

We took the subway from our hotel and then walked through a quiet neighborhood before arriving at the restaurant.  The other diners at the 10 counter seats all seemed to be well-heeled local residents.

The chef is a wine connoisseur so there’s a nice selection; we followed the lead of a couple near us and ordered a white Burgundy.  It was the only time we had wine instead of sake on our trip, but it seemed to fit here.

A few appetizers arrived before the tempura, including an assortment of small dishes in a wooden box.

These included tiny fish in a vinegary sauce, crab in gelée, clam, anago, a skewer of cherry tomato, rice ball, and matcha-dusted rice cake, and a sort of cheese terrine bite.  All very interesting, and it was fun to watch the presentation being assembled for other diners by two young chefs in front of us.

After the appetizers we moved into the tempura.  First, the stage was set with a black wooden platform onto which the tempura pieces would be placed.  Then we each received a set of three salts along with a bowl of sauce, plus a small shallow dish decorated with a duck where we could mix our seasonings.

I’ve lost my notes so I can’t recall all the tempura, but it included crab, fava beans, asparagus, shrimp (with head fried separately), sweet potato, and even steak with a mustard seed sauce.

The most impressive was a small fish, fried whole and presented as if it were swimming.  Amazing!  And delicious.

After tempura, we had grilled fish with rice, miso soup, and pickles – the usual, traditional ending – and then segued into dessert.  Also per usual, dessert was fruit and sweet bean paste with green tea ice cream, accompanied by tea.

Shunsaiten Tsuchiya has two Michelin stars, and I can see why – it merged elements of ornate kaiseki cuisine with the simplicity of tempura (not to mention a French wine list), all in a spare and quietly elegant setting.

Tips on finding it: Take the Midosuji line to Esaka station (Exit 5) and walk west about 10 minutes, using Google Maps to track your progress.  The walk is pleasant, through small neighborhood streets.

Reservations: We reserved two and a half months in advance through our hotel concierge.  English is minimal; fortunately our concierge had arranged our menu in advance so that we didn’t need to order food (it’s a set menu and we chose the middle of three options, for 10,000 JPY), only wine and sake.