Tokyo

Tempura Miyashiro

天婦羅　みやしろ

Naoki Miyashirio, who in previous years has demonstrated his talent at several Japanese restaurants housed in high-end hotels, now exhibits this talent at his own restaurant. His expansive culinary skills are on full display here, not just in the tempura main courses, but in the other Japanese dishes as well. Seating is at a counter with just eight seats where guests can closely observe his techniques and listen to the rhythmic sounds of deep-frying. On top of his culinary prowess, his background working in hotels allows his passion for genuine hospitality to shine. He truly appreciates and values the customers who choose to dine at his restaurant.

When you make the slight turn onto the main street of Nakameguro Shotengai, you will see a retro house with rusted galvanized tin walls and roof. Even if you know the address of the restaurant, you will probably pass right by it because the exterior just looks like an old house. There is a vintage-looking red mailbox in front of the house with “Miyashiro”, written in Japanese. It’s no wonder that you would be skeptical that this house is a restaurant with a Michelin star. Don’t worry, just open the door.

The exterior belies the refined, modern Japanese interior that welcomes you. The counter and chairs are made with high-quality wood and the walls are lined with fireproof “washi,” or Japanese paper. The ultramarine hue of one of the walls, considered a noble color in Japan, accentuates the warmth of the wood and paper.

The calligraphy on the wall reads “Tempura Miyashiro,” written by Soryu Takeda, the younger brother of the famous Japanese calligrapher Soun Takeda. The dishes, made by Kutani ware and Arita ware, are tasteful and carefully curated by chef Miyashiro himself.

Excitement and uniqueness shine

The omakase menu begins with saki-tsuke, an appetizer, and continues with three shrimp tempura courses: deep-fried shrimp heads, deep-fried shrimp bodies, and nori-wrapped rice with deep-fried shrimp. The Chef serves approximately 12 tempura courses in total and intermixes exquisite Japanese dishes such as fugu sashimi, abalone shabu-shabu, and charcoal-grilled firefly squid. The menu always concludes with rice and a unique soup made with the bones of the fish served as that day’s tempura.

Crisp, delicate, thin tempura batter is Miyashiro’s style. While all of the batters are considered thin, he customizes them based on each ingredient. For example, the batter surrounding the shrimp is thinner than that of nori-wrapped shrimp, which allows his guests to enjoy these subtle variations.

The frying oil is a blend of rice oil and Taihaku, unroasted sesame oil, which creates a lighter, crispier batter texture. He even modifies the ratio of the blends of these two oils according to the season. The key to identifying the perfect timing for deep-frying, according to him, is to use the eyes and ears, and to sense subtle vibrations though the chopsticks in his hand. When deep-frying chateaubriand, he considers the residual heat and fries it just a little on the rare side rather than medium rare. He wraps it with shiso leaf and yuba tofu skin.

As for Japanese dishes, his unique techniques shine. Taking the abalone shabu-shabu as an example, first guests will enjoy the abalone by swishing the slices for a few seconds to enjoy a warm yet raw texture. Next, guests can enjoy it by swishing it for about 30 seconds for a more cooked texture. The shabu-shabu soup is made with kombu, abalone liver, white miso, sake, and other seasonings and is very flavorful itself. After enjoying all the abalone slices swished in the soup, the soup itself has become more flavorful from the abalone essence. Then Chef Miyashiro will add “rice tempura” to your soup. You can break up the rice tempura, and it will become something like risotto. The Chef will add one more high-end ingredient, but that will be kept a secret until you visit the restaurant.

The sake and wine list changes from month to month according to the seasonal ingredients Chef Miyashiro uses.

INGREDIENTS
The kuruma-ebi shrimp comes from Amakusa, Kyushu by way of Toyosu Market. He purchases all of his fish and vegetables from the market and relies on reputable vendors. Worthy of a special mention, his tuna comes from Ishiji, a renowned Toyosu tuna dealer who has been one of the top tuna dealers for almost 80 years. Because Miyashirio has a close relationship with Ishiji’s head director, Masayuki Nakajima, Miyashiro can get the very best tuna that even the top sushi restaurants are rarely able to obtain. He marinates the tuna with soy sauce, then tops nori seaweed tempura with a generous amount of the fish, and serves it directly onto guests’ hands.

He only uses the center of the dried bonito from Makurazaki, Kagoshima, for shaving and making clear dashi. The rice is Koshihikari from Mihama, Fukui, and has small grains that are less sticky, a texture he finds perfect for his cuisine.

CHEF

Naoki Miyashiro

He was born in 1976, in Kanagawa prefecture. After graduating from high school, he entered culinary school without a defined purpose. One of his father’s acquaintances was a bartender at the Hotel Metropolitan in Tokyo, and because of that connection, he got a kitchen job at a Japanese restaurant. At just 22 years old, he was in charge of the sashimi station, where he developed an affinity for Japanese fish knives. He worked there and at the Yokoyama Royal Park Hotel for approximately seven years, and then spent nearly 21 years at the Hotel Nikko Tokyo (currently Hilton Tokyo Odaiba).

In May 2018, he became the executive chef of Tempura Miyashiro, directing his focus to tempura. He believes that the advantage of having a small restaurant is that he is able to comprehend the moisture level of each ingredient for tempura on his own, beginning with the first stage of prepping. His motto is “Work without compromise in every aspect.”

VISION
His current priority is to run Tempura Miyashiro in a down to earth way. He strives to make his guests happy and for everyone to leave his restaurant with smiles on their faces. He also wants to brush up on his English to explain the charm of his tempura to guests from abroad.

House-made seasoned salt

The salt served with tempura is an original recipe made in the restaurant. Chef Miyashiro combines Ako Salt with kombu stock, the rehydrating liquid from dried mushrooms, and san-on-to sugar and then heats the mixture. Achieving a completely dried salt takes almost a week. The salt is not pure white; it has a bit of color which points to the level of umami it contains which complements his exquisite tempura. He fell in love with the container in the picture and decided to use it for his salt.