Restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
Michelin-listed tempura, easy to book.
A Michelin Plate tempura counter in Kagurazaka that earns its OAD #454 Japan ranking through technically precise, seasonally driven omakase. At ¥¥¥ pricing with easy booking, it's one of Tokyo's most accessible routes into serious tempura — and a natural choice for a date or celebration dinner where the food should lead.
If you're weighing tempura options in Tokyo, Tempura Kondo is the name most visitors land on first — it carries more international recognition and a longer booking queue to match. Tempura Taku, tucked into Kagurazaka's fifth floor on a residential side street, is the more considered choice: a Michelin Plate recipient in both 2024 and 2025, ranked #454 in Japan by Opinionated About Dining in 2025 (up from #485 in 2024), and carrying a Google rating of 4.7 across 43 reviews. At ¥¥¥ pricing, it sits a full tier below the ¥¥¥¥ operators and delivers a tightly controlled omakase format under chef Hisayuki Takeuchi. Book it for a date, a quiet celebration, or a business dinner where you want the food to do the talking.
Kagurazaka is one of Tokyo's more quietly rewarding neighbourhoods — former geisha district, Franco-Japanese character, low-rise streets that slow you down. Arriving at the Karukozaka Place building and ascending to the fifth floor sets a deliberate pace before you've touched a piece of tempura. The room operates at a register that suits the food: composed, focused, with the kind of ambient quiet that makes a special-occasion dinner feel intentional rather than incidental. This is not a high-energy counter. If the noise level at Tempura Ginya or other busier operators has ever distracted you from the food, Taku's register will be a genuine improvement.
The cooking philosophy is stated plainly in the venue's own award notes and worth taking seriously as a booking signal. Flour is aerated as it's mixed with water, producing a coating thin enough that you're mostly tasting the ingredient underneath it rather than the batter around it. Cold-pressed sesame oil is the frying medium, which contributes a flavour profile distinct from the neutral oils used elsewhere. The practical effect is tempura that reads lighter and more ingredient-forward than the category average , relevant information if you're comparing this to heavier, crunchier interpretations.
The sequencing of the omakase is deliberate: seafood and vegetable courses alternate throughout the meal, which prevents the palate from settling into a single flavour register. Shrimp and conger eel appear, as they should in any serious tempura omakase, but the menu also includes sea urchin , wrapped in nori before frying so the soft texture survives the oil , and asparagus handled at two separate temperatures, tips and stalks fried differently to achieve the leading result from each part of the vegetable. That kind of technical specificity signals a kitchen that is engaged with the format rather than just executing it.
This matters more at a tempura counter than at most formats. Tempura is, at its core, a seasonal ingredient showcase: the batter is essentially a neutral frame, and what changes across the calendar year is what's inside it. Spring brings bamboo shoots, young fuki, and the season's first asparagus. Summer shifts to sweetfish, prawn, and corn. Autumn adds matsutake and root vegetables. Winter delivers crab, oyster, and the dense, sweet root produce that colder months produce. Taku's menu structure, with its novel items alongside the classics, suggests a kitchen responsive to what the season offers , so visiting in a shoulder season or during a produce peak (early spring for mountain vegetables, late autumn for mushrooms and root items) will give you a more varied and ingredient-specific experience than a summer visit focused on seafood staples.
If you're visiting Tokyo and building a fine-dining itinerary around more than one meal, note that the neighbourhood concentration of good tempura in Tokyo means you have real alternatives within range. Tempura Motoyoshi and Fukamachi are both worth knowing. For a broader view of where Taku sits in the city's dining map, our full Tokyo restaurants guide covers the range. If you're extending your trip, comparable high-end Japanese dining is available at HAJIME in Osaka, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, and Goh in Fukuoka. For tempura specifically outside Tokyo, Numata in Osaka and Mudan Tempura in Taipei are the regional comparisons worth considering.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy , meaningfully useful information in a Tokyo fine-dining market where ¥¥¥¥ counters regularly require months of lead time or a hotel concierge with the right relationships. Taku at ¥¥¥ and with easier availability is one of the more accessible routes into serious tempura omakase in the city. Phone and website details are not available in our current data; the most reliable approach is to contact through a hotel concierge or a reservation service such as Tableall or Omakase. The Kagurazaka address (3 Chome-1 Karukozaka Place 501, Shinjuku City) is accessible from Kagurazaka or Iidabashi stations on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. Plan for an evening meal if you're treating this as a date or celebration dinner , the neighbourhood after dark suits the occasion considerably better than a rushed lunch. For accommodation and bar options nearby, see our Tokyo hotels guide and our Tokyo bars guide. For broader Japan trip planning, akordu in Nara, 1000 in Yokohama, and 6 in Okinawa are all worth a look depending on your itinerary. Also see our Tokyo experiences guide and Tokyo wineries guide for wider trip context.
For the special-occasion diner who wants a technically serious omakase at a price point that doesn't require a ¥¥¥¥ budget, Tempura Taku is a clear recommendation. The Michelin recognition is modest but consistent, the OAD trajectory is moving in the right direction, and the format suits a two-person celebratory dinner better than a large group outing. If you're specifically looking for the highest-decorated tempura counter in Tokyo regardless of price, Tempura Kondo or Edomae Shinsaku deserve consideration. But if accessible booking, a quieter room, and serious ingredient work at ¥¥¥ pricing describe your brief, Taku is the answer.
Quick reference: Tempura Taku, Kagurazaka, Tokyo | ¥¥¥ | Michelin Plate 2024–2025 | OAD #454 Japan (2025) | Booking: Easy | Leading for: date nights, celebratory dinners, seasonal produce-led omakase.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tempura Taku | Tempura | ¥¥¥ | Tempura is required to be light. The flour is aerated as it is mixed with water to form a thin coating. Tempura pieces are fried in cold-pressed sesame oil to bring the flavour to the fore. Service alternates seafood with vegetable items, so flavours are constantly changing. In addition to favourites such as shrimp and conger eel, the menu includes a few novel tempura items. Sea urchin is served rare, so is wrapped in nori seaweed; asparagus tips and stalks are fried at different temperatures for the best texture.; Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #454 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #485 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Harutaka | Sushi | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| L'Effervescence | French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| RyuGin | Kaiseki, Japanese | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| HOMMAGE | Innovtive French, French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Crony | Innovative, French | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Tempura Taku measures up.
Tempura Kondo is the most obvious comparison — it carries stronger international name recognition and is harder to book. Tempura Taku is a better call if you want a Michelin-recognised counter at ¥¥¥ without the lead time. For a completely different format, RyuGin offers multi-course Japanese cuisine at a higher price point and booking difficulty.
The venue database does not specify a dress code, but a counter-format ¥¥¥ tempura restaurant in Kagurazaka — a neighbourhood with Franco-Japanese character and a relatively refined local atmosphere — typically draws guests in neat, relaxed attire. Avoid anything that might introduce strong fragrances near an open frying counter.
Tempura Taku operates as a counter-format restaurant — meaning the counter is the dining experience, not a secondary option. The format is central to how Chef Hisayuki Takeuchi sequences seafood and vegetable courses, alternating items so flavours shift throughout the meal.
The menu runs as a set sequence rather than à la carte, so ordering is not a decision you make at the table. Per the venue record, the kitchen alternates seafood and vegetable tempura throughout service — expect shrimp and conger eel alongside less common items such as sea urchin wrapped in nori and asparagus fried at different temperatures for contrasting texture.
At ¥¥¥, Tempura Taku sits in the mid-to-upper tier of Tokyo tempura pricing and holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, plus consecutive OAD rankings in Japan's top 500. For that price range, you are getting a technically considered counter — cold-pressed sesame oil, aerated batter, ingredient-led sequencing — rather than a prestige-brand name. If you want the Kondo or Mikawa reputation, you will pay more and wait longer. Taku is the more accessible call at this level.
The counter format at Tempura Taku is a set-course experience by design, so the question is really whether the format suits you. The kitchen's approach — alternating seafood and vegetables, varying frying temperatures by ingredient, using cold-pressed sesame oil — gives the meal a clear technical logic rather than just a list of fried items. At ¥¥¥ with a Michelin Plate, it delivers on that format. If you prefer à la carte flexibility, a tempura counter is not the right format regardless of venue.
No dietary policy is documented for Tempura Taku. Counter-format tempura restaurants generally have limited flexibility given the sequential, ingredient-led structure of service. If you have shellfish or seafood restrictions, check the venue's official channels before booking — shrimp and conger eel are listed as core menu items.
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