MesaEstacion tempura kaiseki - Osaka

 A little warm sake to start? why not...

Appetisers of yuzu tofu, buri sashimi with mustard and sweet miso dressing, deep fried shishamo (smelt) with sudachi lime

 An exotic collection of vegetables are presented to me prior to cooking - Chinese artichokes, Roman cauliflower, green togarashi (chilli/pepper), sweet potato, the little green things are unopened Chinese Day Lily's  - the flower part of the more common yurine (lily bulb), Chajudake (chaju mushrooms), Kohlrabi

Two perfectly fried saimaki ebi (juvenile kurama ebi)

A rather curious offering of smoked salmon, cream cheese, peanuts, daikon and lettuce with sesame dressing. It shouldn't work but it somehow did... not a word of a lie, it cannot be explained...

A Roman cauli tree and mushroom forest....

 Chawan mushi (steamed teacup of savoury custard) with tara shirako (cod sperm) , mitsuba and a divinely smoky amber sauce scented with yuzu. Close up on the spermsac. Tastes better than it sounds - trust me..

The Texas rock salt for the tempura is ground together in this contraption with roasted kuromame (black soy beans) from Tamba in Hyogo prefecture ( note no dipping sauce... in certain tempura establishments, particularly in Kansai,  sauce is considered crass)

It is not a goldfish I promise. It is amago (red spotted masu trout) or 'Spot' for short...

 All the fryin'  love happens behind the silver dome....

 A free lesson in Katsuramuki cutting

 Red rice, excellent pickles of daikon and shiso and clear dashi with baby clams and the refreshing aromatics mitsuba and yuzu zest

If I must.... a palate cleanser of Genmai-cha (green tea flavoured with roasted brown rice) ice cream and yuzu sherbet

There were a few extra tempura dishes in between  - all the veggies from the original plate plus a variety of seafood - needless to say I was completely stuffed.. when they asked me if I would like to order anything more from the tempura menu I nearly choked...