Established in Meiji Period 22nd year (1889), passing the technique of making tempura for 127 years from generations to generations, serving their best tempura cuisine with devotion, Dote-no-Iseya(土手の伊勢屋) becomes a prestigious tempura restaurant that is loved by many people.
It is located in the north of Asakusa, in Taito-ku, Tokyo, where is known as the Shitamachi. The atmosphere in this area is slow and cozy remaining with some classic feeling of Japan. It is where people can take a break from the fast pace of Tokyo. The restaurant is 6 minutes walk from the Minowa Station, or 25 minutes walk from the Asakusa Station.
You can easily notice the restaurant because the architecture of this restaurant simply grabs everyone’s attention. It is a wooden house that was built in the Showa period. The building of the restaurant is even recognized by the government as an official historical site. Everything in the restaurant is kept in good condition. Entering the restaurant, it’s just like entering a time machine. Thinking about how it survived the wartime, weather, natural disaster, and the change of the history is incredible.
On the menu, there are three types of ten-don (tempura bowl). There are I, Ro, Ha, and each of them stands for different portion with different tempura.
I: one whitefish, one squid, two prawns, and one green pepper 1500 yen
Ro: one sea eel, one squid, one prawn, and two types of vegetables 2000 yen
Ha: one sea eel, one baby shrimp patty, one prawn, one seasonal fish, three types of vegetables 2500 yen
Their ten-don is famous for its big sea eel tempura, they have professional sea eel water tank to make sure that the sea eels are fresh. So I recommend having Ro or Ha. For me, Ha is a little bit too big, since the portion is actually a lot; I decided to go with Ro. If you have big appetite, go with Ha!
After a long wait, here it comes the ten-don! This is the Ro bowl. Look at that sea eel! It’s so big that it can’t even fill into the bowl. The soy sauce on the tempura is a bit sweet and it combines perfectly with the tempura to keep your appetite. Everything is fried until crispy but not too oily. The squid tempura is fresh and springy. The prawn is my favorite; it’s super sweet and fresh. If you like prawns, there’s a special bowl that has 6 prawns tempura in it. I got a pumpkin tempura for seasonal vegetables, which balanced the bowl. Finally the main character of this bowl, the sea eel tempura! It is crispy outside and soft inside. The texture was amazing, and of course, it’s really fresh. This ten-don was a combination of the happiness of ingredients; it was so delicious. This bowl was actually a little bit big for me that I almost couldn’t finish too! But it was definitely tasty.
This is the I bowl, if you can’t eat that much, you can try this one too.
Sitting in this gorgeous restaurant and eating a masterpiece that has been passed from generations for more than one hundred years, it was absolutely a great experience. Totally worth it! This restaurant only offers lunch from 11am to 2:30pm; so make sure you don’t miss it when you come. This is the website of Dote-no-Iseya, http://www.dotenoiseya.jp/, you can see the devotion they put into tempura.
Hours: 11:00AM to 2:30PM (Closes on Wednesday & every 4th Tuesday of the month)
Access: Metro-Hibiya Line, Minowa Station, 1A exit
Address: 〒111-0021 Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Nihonzutsumi, 1 Chome−1−9−2
Map:
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