Tempura Uchitsu

Delicate tempura omakase in an exclusive setting
VERIFIED LUXURY

At the helm of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong’s Tempura Uchitsu restaurant is chef Eisaku Hara, who spoils you with delicate, delicious tempura. The intimate dining room feels like a well-kept secret thanks to its discreet location, set behind blond-wood-paneled doors on the 45th floor of the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel, right next to Sushi Saito.

Inside the wood-clad restaurant — an outpost of the much-lauded restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya district — a 12-seat countertop overlooks a collection of artfully pruned bonsai trees and an intimate open kitchen. While cozy, the proximity enables you to learn about the age-old craft of Edomae (Tokyo-style) tempura while enjoying the special omakase (“trust the chef”) experience.

And what an experience it is. The Fukuoka native chef lightly batters premium, seasonal Japanese ingredients using his special recipe, then steams and deep-fries each piece — a technique that extracts natural flavors for a juicy yet crisp result.

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Our Inspector's Highlights

  • Hara creates light, crispy dishes with scientific precision using only the best of the best Japanese ingredients. The calming space follows suit, celebrating nature’s bounty with smooth wood interiors and photogenic green bonsai trees.
  • You could easily be in the heart of Shibuya at this exclusive restaurant, which can accommodate just 12 people at a time. The compact space ensures everyone gets a front-row seat to the open kitchen where Hara and his team work meticulously.
  • Open for lunch and dinner, Tempura Uchitsu serves a 10-course seasonal set menu that includes at least 12 types of tempura — think Kumamoto eggplant, Miyagi scallops, Hokkaido sea urchin, Kagoshima prawns and lots of vegetables.
  • While you watch the chef and his team at work, the servers ensure you want for nothing, be that a sake refill or more information about the ingredients and dishes.
  • Every detail has been carefully chosen to honor Japanese traditions, right down to the authentic serving utensils. Japanese artisans created all of the beautiful tableware, including the chopsticks, sake glasses and plates.

Things to Know
  • The dress code at Tempura Uchitsu is smart casual.
The Food

  • The 10-course omakase menu features more than just tempura, though the delicately fried dishes are undoubtedly the highlight. In addition to lots of perfectly battered bites, you’ll also sample a bit of sashimi, a classic Japanese hotpot and a refreshing Japanese dessert.
  • While the tempura is delicious on its own, you can play with the flavor by dipping each bite into one of the chef's three seasoning recommendations: Japanese green mandarin, Kyushu sea salt, or housemade kombu maitake (kelp and mushroom) salt.
  • Hara’s shrimp tempura is the star of the show. He ships in plump, live prawns from Chiba, east of Tokyo, for maximum freshness, applies a coat of ultra-light batter, then deep-fries them at 392 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve that signature crispy texture.
  • Do you prefer something you can only find in Hong Kong? Look out for the fried bird's nest and shrimp head tempura, exclusive to the restaurant’s Four Seasons outpost.
  • For dessert, the chef will refresh your palate with a seasonal dish, such as perilla (a mint-like wild plant) served three ways, alongside salted ice cream and Kagoshima sweet potato tempura.

Amenities
Business casual
Dinner
Lunch
Private dining
Reservations recommended
Valet parking
Getting There
45/F Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong
TEL852-2307-6281
Tempura Uchitsu
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