Tempura

choi

Florence Fabricant, Fine Tempura, Piece by Delectable Piece; A memorable meal in Tokyo, but not easily found at home. New York Times, Jan 29, 2014.
www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/dinin ... lectable-piece.html

Note:
(a) The "home" in the subtitle refers to US.

(b) "an omakase お任せ, or chef's-choice menu. A skewer of ginkgo nuts, shiso leaves sandwiching a shrimp purée, a white-fleshed fish called flat head"

makaseru 任せる 【まかせる】 (v): "to entrust (e.g. a task) to another"
(c) "chef Nobu MATSUHISA"  松久 信幸 (Wikipedia: Matsuhisa Restaurants (in Beverly Hills, Aspen, Athens and Mykonos [a Greek Island])

(d) "Shin-ei KUNUGIYAMA 樟山 真栄, the chef and owner of Ten-Shin 天真 in central Tokyo"
(i) Usually: that KUNUGIYAMA is 椚山., and that 樟山 is pronounced Kusuyama.
(ii) kusunogi; kusu クスノキ; クス 《樟; 楠》 【くすのき; くす】 (n): "camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora);"

no = の; ki = 木.
(iii) kunugi クヌギ 《櫟; 椚; 橡; 櫪》 【くぬぎ】 (n): "sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima)"
(iv) Quercus acutissima  
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_acutissima(an oak originally native to eastern Asia, in China, Korea and Japan)

Called 麻栎 in China and Taiwan.

(e) The tempura eatery has no website.
(i) There is just one blog about it.

Momo, 平河町　天真. June 5, 2008.
ameblo.jp/wine-and-gourmet/entry-10103518524.html
("住所　東京都千代田区平河町２－３－１０　ライオンズマンション平河町１階")

address: Lions Mansion [doing business as; Daikyo Group, a Japanese company owning condominiums around the nation], Floor 1 * * *  
(ii) Both the NY Times food critique and the blog carry a photo of store sign, with black-ink characters 天真 on white rice paper. In the upper right corner is "天ぷら" (hiragana in cursive/ flowing style 草書体). That is "tempura" (pronunciation), also written (as in the blog) as 天麩羅  or 天婦羅 in Japan.

(f) tempura
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura
(section 2 History)
(i) 屋台
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%8B%E5%8F%B0
(ii) Japanese Wiki says tempura is considered one of 「江戸の三味」: 江戸料理 [now known as 東京]