Naruse

naruse is an amazing tempura restaurant, getting a table here is not easy and requires taking an hour-long bullet train from tokyo, but if you can get a table, it is so so worth it. dining here was one of the best experiences of my life. watching the chef work was so humbling, his level of skill and perfection is unlike anything i have ever seen before. at the beginning of the meal, the chefs were preparing the vegetables. according to my time stamps, at 12:46 pm the sweet potato had been scored and put into the fryer, and about 90 minutes later it was taken out of its oil bath and then cracked apart into pieces at 2:33 pm. it was one of the most heavenly bites of food i have ever tried, warm and impossibly creamy with a little bit of crunchy salt and some crunch from the fry to balance. i seriously had no idea a sweet potato could be like this. we ooh-ed and ahh-ed at our first bite of fish, and told the chef it was the best piece of cooked fish we had ever had, but then the next fish course was even better, and the one after that too! i would love to tell you more but i don’t want to give too much away. i could not recommend this restaurant enough. i hope that i will get to dine here again one day.