Tenan

Rating: Excellent
Meal:  Lunch for 2
Price:  4000 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Two 7 piece tempura courses
English Menu: No

Smoking: No
Phone number for reservations:  046-823-6333

I'm always pleased to discover a new Excellent restaurant right here in Yokosuka.  Today a friend of mine from work suggested we go eat tempura.  I said fine, it wasn't my favorite, but I'd try anything.  We had to drive about 10 minutes from base up past Shiori, one of the local train stations.  My friend had called ahead to be sure to get a reservation.  When we arrived, I didn't see anything other than a parking lot where a man waited to show us where to park.  Then we followed him around the back side, down an alley way to the entrance to an old Japanese house.  The man turned out to be the chef, and after he took our coats and settled us on the tatami (you will be sitting on tatami), he got our orders and started cooking.

tsukemono

The lunch menu had some very affordable options and I was hungry so I went for the 7 piece set and my friend did the same.  Heads up:  it's a lot of food!  I should have gone for the 5 piece.  You can have rice or noodles with the meal, as long as he's not too busy to make the rice...yes, he starts cooking it after you order it, so you don't actually get it until about 20 minutes into the meal.

gobo root

Different things started arriving, beginning with the tsukemono which was incredibly delicious.  There were several strong sour pieces of vegetables pickled in ume (plum) vinegar, a large variety of kumquat that is apparently famous, and some green vegetables that tasted to me like they might have been a variety of wasabi leaf.

eggplant

He kept bringing out different pieces of tempura through out the meal, giving commentary that my friend was able to translate for me (he speaks fluent Japanese).  I won't go over each on here, but wow...they were all amazing, large and interesting types of tempura.  One of the most delicious things was the soup that he brought and heated up at the table.  The broth was a strong katsuoboshi dashi that was absolutely delicious.  The rice was great too once it arrived.

soup

We left very full and satisfied.  It's a pretty exclusive spot, and it's always best to call ahead to reserve as he will only accept one group at a time.  Dinner is reservation only and at whatever time is negotiated.  He said he'll even accept special orders if they can be accommodated.  Mind you, I am getting all of this via my friend, so I'm not sure how much English the owner can speak.

fish and cauliflower

I am definitely going to make it a point to come back here and bring my wife.

Fresh rice being dished up by the chef

sweet potato

sweet potato, shiso wrapped squid, shrimp