Hannosuke: Best Tempura Outside of Japan

November 24th, 2012 by justJENN

In Los Angeles there is no reason to eat fast food because the ‘fast food’ that we have all around us is beyond compare. Hidden in mini malls, grocery stores, off the beaten path, are little jewels of culinary greatness.

I have an affection for fried food, so when I heard that the ‘best tempura in Japan’ was opening up here in LA it was all I could do to not run there immediately.

Located inside the food court of a Mitsuwa, this place could easily be dismissed. Hannosuke ‘s menu is very limited, not much choice here – you get what you get and it’s cash only too, to make matters more complicated.

But you don’t need choice because what they offer is amazing. An assortment of fried food on a large bowl of rice. It’s not crispy like the tempura that you might be used to but believe it or not it doesn’t have to be. The flavor is what makes this bowl of fried deliciousness shine.

The tempura is fried to order and drizzled with a subtle sweet sauce that brings together the vegetables, shrimp and golden tempura. Along with shrimp, eel or whitefish as options there is a kakiage of shrimp and scallop, a sweet shishito pepper and a soft boiled egg, fried just so.

If you’re not an egg fan this isn’t for you, because when the egg is punctured the yolk runs throughout the bowl and mixes with the hot rice, fried food and sweet sauce to create a decadent omelet. Even though I’m not a huge fan of runny yolks I couldn’t stop eating the gratifying eggy mess.

Ever since my first bite I dream about this tendon bowl at Hannosuke, definitely one of my favorite specialty places in LA.

Hannosuke
3760 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066

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