Kyoboshi

Kyoboshi is Japanese tempura restaurant and has one Michelin star. This is a family restaurant and the current tempura master, Toshinori Sakakibara, is the third generation owner chef. We arrived to an empty restaurant and were greeted warmly by an older lady who turned out to be Toshinori's mother. Toshinori Sakakibara started preparing tempura batter from scratch and within minutes everything was ready to go. What followed was one delicious lightly battered dish after another starting with a fried "shrimp sandwich" and followed by an assortment of shellfish, prawns, vegetables and a memorable tiny whole fish with fins extended and all. We also had salt, the preparation of which is a family secret. It was very finely grained, like icing sugar, and had what looks like flecks of gold leaf in it. It didn't taste salty either. It was the perfect condiment for the deep fried goodies. To finish we had ice-cream with coffee liquor which was refreshing and delicious. Toshinori and his mother were delightful and the perfect hosts. They were very proud of their Michelin entry and delighted in comparing our English edition with their Japanese edition. Again we were shown to the street with bows and arigatos. This place is a gem.