Quaintly situated behind a large blue door at the corner of 3rd and Avenue B is Secchu Yokota (折衷よこ田), a contemporary restaurant specializing in tempura (天婦羅) omakase. Just like other high end eateries in Tokyo, there are no signs nor billboards. Just a large blue door surrounded by freshly laid white paint. The shop is easy to miss, but the food should not be missed by any account.
The restaurant is small and only seats 8 at a time across a L-shaped bar. The interior is brightly lit and features clinical, surrealist decor. The pastel white colored walls contrast beautifully with the wooden grains of the counter. Along with the red and green velvet chairs in the back lounge, the ambiance is whimsically modern. Playful even, yet still grounded upon an air of Japanese classicism. Perhaps it is the open kitchen, or the circular stone slabs of limestone gray crockery, that gives me a welcoming and honest atmosphere.
Tonight's special.
The chef hails from Kobe and is classically trained in French cuisine. As such, it is easy to see the Western influences in his cooking style, which he combines in his first Japanese tempura project. Secchu Yokota is the second tempura omakase restaurant in NYC, the first being Tempura Matsui. Regrettably, the beverage menu is severely lacking in both wines and sakes. Corkage is also not allowed. However, at $65 dollars a pop, combined with the mastery level of execution, this 2-hour omakase menu is a steal and is by all means a must-go before the price hike.
Chilled Pumpkin Soup, White Soy Sauce, Pumpkin Seed Oil
Nothing combats summer heat more effectively than a cup of gazpacho or chilled soup. Served in a dainty white porcelain cup, the soup is delectably fragrant and umami-laden. Meanwhile, the silken smooth texture is a testament to some solid filtering work. The pumpkin seed oil unabashedly accentuates the headiness and concentration of flavors. With a touch of heat from the pepper to balance the cold temperature, this amuse bouche adequately whets my appetite for what is to come. What a fabulous start to the meal.
Madai Sashimi, Pickles and Beet Salad, Shallot Jam
This is the first of two appetizers before the tempura, and perhaps the one dish that showcases the Western influences in cooking technique. Here, two thick slices of madai (真鯛) is served on a bed of julienned pickles, daikon and beets and paired with a mixture of soy and wasabi oil. Visually, the colors are striking. Texturally, the crunch from the pickles and root vegetables go so well with the suppleness and richness of the bass. The wasabi provides a levity to the dish without being too overpowering as well. Meanwhile, the fermented miso provides sweetness while the red peppercorns give it heat. Everything is in perfect proportions - umami, richness and balance. Really impressive.
Oyako Pâté, Onsen Tamago, Napa Cabbage Salad
Nothing screams of French classical cooking as much as pâté does. This rendition, in particular, is a solid specimen of the cooking technique while riffing into a Japanese taste profile. Essentially, the aspic is a deconstruction of Oyakodon (親子井), a homey Japanese dish featuring sauteed chicken thighs mixed with eggs served on a bowl of steaming white rice. In place of rice, however, is a salad of Napa cabbage, radicchio and scallions. Being a sucker for tsukune (つくね) at yakitori (焼き鳥) joints, I particularly like this, especially when the sweet soy tare (たれ) melds with the umami from the meat and the richness of the yolk. The meat itself is extremely smooth in texture while retaining a bit of a bite. The salad, although prototypical, is on point too as it retains the crunch supported by an acidic, ponzu dressing. Only carping point about the dish is the lack of flavor from the yolk of the onsen tamago (温泉卵). Perhaps a touch of salt would have done the trick.
Tempura Omakase
Condiments includes matcha salt, bamboo charcoal salt, daikon oroshi (大根おろし), lemon, and tempura dipping sauce infused with bonito flakes. Very typical accoutrements. I particularly like the grated radish as it is rough grate; hence there is a bite to it and not just a slab of watery mess.
Argentinian Red Prawn (Carabineros) 【スカーレットシュリンプ】
Often featured in Spanish cuisine, the scarlet prawn needs no introduction. Having it in tempura form, however, is a first for me. The head, which is only lightly dusted in powder and not batter, is delectably crisp and yields a satisfying crunch. Although there is not much tomalley in it, I do love the texture, saline flavors and calcium in the bite. The flavors can be a bit more prominent here.
As for the body, the prawns are so big they have to be cut in half. The flesh is sweet and snappy with a suppleness to it. The frying is on point here as the moderately thick batter coating preserves the residual heat. As such, the prawn is cooked mi cuit and just glistens under the light. Despite the frying, there is barely any oil in the final product. This is impressive work, in both attention to details to preserve textures as well as the sourcing of ingredients.
Okra 【オクラ】
Just as equally impressive is the prep work done on the okra. These are some very big specimens, yet I do not detect any trace of fiber which is often associated with okras of this size. The batter is on the thicker side which goes well with the woodiness and the burly outer shell of the okra. The vegetable itself is sweet, fragrant and succulent. Interestingly enough, I do not see any slime that is often found inside the pod. A great bite, but this does not wow me.
Golden Tilefish (Amadai) 【甘鯛】
Incredible and a solid contender for the piece of the night for me. The fish is in season and is extremely oily and sweet. The fat just glistens under the bright light. When paired with the smoky dipping sauce, this piece is simply divine. The thick chunky bite just cascades into oily, unctuous pieces of meat. The batter does a good job in encasing all the juices and oils within too. Simply amazing.
Fairytale Eggplant 【イタリア茄子 - フェアリー ・ テイル】
Summer is the season for eggplants as well and nothing is better than eating this cute heirloom variety. This is perhaps the piece that showcases the frying skills of the chef, as eggplants are notoriously difficult to cook. If the oil temperature is too low, the eggplant will soak up excess oil and force the juices to evaporate. If it is too hot, the interior would not be cooked through.
This specimen is done just right. The batter is so ethereally thin I can even see the lattice structure from the frying. Biting down, the flesh is supple and smoky with plenty of juices to boot. Most tellingly, the eggplant interior barely contains any oil. In fact, steam just escapes from the batter shell, which means the inherent water content is well-preserved throughout the frying process. This is a testament to the stellar work from the chef.
Orange Bell Pepper 【ピーマン・橙色】
If the batter for the aubergine is thin, the one on the pepper is even thinner. This, coupled with the char from the frying, allows the sweetness of the vegetable to shine through. The texture and the water content are also well-preserved as I can still feel the crunch from the pepper. Again, just like the previous bites, I do not taste much oiliness at all despite the frying. This is definitely attributable to the consume skill of the chef as well as the temperature control of the oil.
Hokkaido Diver Scallop 【帆立貝】
This is the last piece in the omakase menu. With just a kiss of heat from the frying, the scallop is fried mi cuit with a translucent center. The bivalve itself is extremely sweet and fresh. Meanwhile, the crispy batter provides a textural contrast to the supple flesh. Not much needs to be said about this as the picture does all the talking. Absolutely fabulous and definitely a contender for the piece of the night for me.
Baby Sweet Fish (Chi-Ayu) 【稚鮎】
I am so impressed with the frying skills of the chef that I decide to order additional pieces for myself (ツイカ). The baby sweet fish is a special tonight. After all, it is summer and sweet fish, which is hard to come by, is in season. Much like the other pieces, the frying here is on point as the fish comes out whole and the belly, of which the skin is extremely thin, is not punctured. Biting down, the juices just squirt out onto the dish. I absolutely adore the interplay between the bitterness of the guts and the delectably sweet, oily flesh. One thing of note is that the guts are particularly bitter. Perhaps these are wild and not farm-raised, which would explain the somewhat steep price at $6 a pop.
“Shime” - Anago-don, Aka-misohiru 【穴子丼，赤味噌汁】
Unlike the typical eel over rice, the conger eel is from saltwater and is not the freshwater unagi (うなぎ). This concluding dish boasts a very generous portion of anago (穴子) tempura topped with deep fried rice, chopped mitsuba (三葉), and julienned nori (海苔). This rice bowl is incredibly tasty. First there is the richness of the fish oils. Then there is the smokiness from the dried seaweed. But perhaps it is the ten-tsuyu (天つゆ) that truly elevates this dish to a whole new level. The house-made soy shows an expert balance between umami, sweetness and saltiness. It also boasts just the right viscosity without it being too gloopy. This sauce, combined with the al-dente short grain sushi rice and the crunch from the conger eel tempura, truly hits home and is a fitting conclusion - shime (閉め) - to this fabulous meal.
Hearty and bursting of umami, the soup itself is a rather typical rendition of red miso soup. One thing of note here, however, is the tofu within. This tofu is made in-house and boasts an incredibly silken texture but with a thick skin. What an interesting contrast of textures.
Dessert - Strawberry Soup, Green Tea Ice Cream, Sesame Tuile, Sticky Rice Cake with Azuki Red Bean Paste
By this time, I am beyond stuffed and thus skip the rice cake. The tuile is rather prototypical but the real star here is the soup and ice cream combo. Although not sweet, the strawberry gazpacho boasts an intoxicating fragrance of summer berries. This pairs so well with the astringency of the green tea floating island. There is just a hint of natural fruit sweetness in the end to remind me that this is a dessert. What a fitting way to end a meal. And what a way to cool our bodies in this summer heat.
This is a very enjoyable meal, and not just because of the immensely high price quality ratio. Rather, the execution is on point and there is an integrity behind the cooking. As is typical of Japanese cuisine, the quality lies in the minute details of seemingly simple cooking techniques. The differing thickness of batter coating to match the ingredients. The temperature control of the frying oil. The preservation of water content in the ingredients. All these are minute details which testify the chef's mastery in his cooking. And on top of that, there is the whimsical nature of fusing Western ingredients with Japanese cooking techniques. It is hard to fathom that a chef who is classically trained in French cuisine can produce such high quality tempura which gives Tempura Matsui a run for the money.
Kondo Fumio (近藤文夫), who owns the 2 Michelin star eponymous restaurant in Ginza, once said that "Tempura not only is a fried food, but it is also a steamed food." And in that respect, through the lens of this meal, I can finally understand the meaning behind his words. I cannot recommend Secchu Yokota enough. (08/20/2016)