Takiya

What Takiya Is

Takiya is a 10-seat tempura counter on the second floor of a building in Azabu-Juban, one of Tokyo's quieter, more residential upscale neighbourhoods. Chef Tatsuaki Kasamoto runs the kitchen. The room is small and intimate by design: at 10 seats, the energy is focused and unhurried rather than buzzy or loud. This is the kind of setting where conversation across the counter is possible and the pacing of the meal is the main event. If you arrive expecting the ambient energy of a larger tasting-menu restaurant, recalibrate. The atmosphere here is closer to a private dining experience than a full restaurant service.

Dinner runs from 17:30 with a second seating beginning at 20:30. The format is counter service with two seatings per evening, which keeps covers tight and the kitchen operating at full attention for each table. There is no lunch service. The menu is not published, which is standard practice at this tier of Japanese dining: the kitchen sets the progression and you follow it. That structure suits the tasting-menu format well. Each course arrives in sequence, built around the discipline of tempura at a level where ingredient quality and frying precision carry the entire narrative arc of the meal.

Pricing sits at JPY 40,000–49,999 per head based on listed rates, with review-based averages suggesting the real spend is closer to JPY 50,000–59,999. That puts Takiya at the upper end of Tokyo's tempura category. For context, Tabelog Gold-level tempura in Tokyo typically runs in this range. Payment is by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners). No private rooms are available, and the venue does not offer private hire. The building has no parking and is non-smoking throughout.

Getting there is direct: Takiya is a 3-minute walk from either Azabu-Juban Station Exit 7 (Toei Oedo Line) or Exit 4 (Tokyo Metro Namboku Line). For context on the Tokyo tempura tier, compare Tempura Kondo, Tempura Motoyoshi, and Fukamachi. Tempura Ginya and Edomae Shinsaku are also worth evaluating if availability or price is a constraint.

Takiya has won Tabelog Gold in 2022, 2024, and 2026, with Silver in the years between. It has been selected for the Tabelog Tempura Top 100 in 2022, 2023, and 2025. That oscillation between Gold and Silver is not a red flag; it is consistent with how Tabelog's scoring works across a small-sample-size counter with a fixed format. The venue's La Liste score has moved from 96 points (2025) to 97 points (2026), a meaningful increment at that level. Google reviews sit at 4.6 across 157 ratings, which is a reliable secondary signal at a venue this difficult to access.

For special occasion use: the 10-seat counter format and the paced, multi-course structure make Takiya well-suited to a birthday dinner, an anniversary, or a business dinner where the quality of the experience matters more than flexibility in ordering. It is less appropriate for groups larger than the counter can accommodate in one block, and there is no private room option. Solo diners sit at the counter directly and are fully integrated into the experience.

Explore more of Tokyo's dining scene in our full Tokyo restaurants guide, or plan your wider trip with our Tokyo hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide. If you are travelling beyond Tokyo, consider HAJIME in Osaka, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, 1000 in Yokohama, or 6 in Okinawa. For tempura beyond Japan, Mudan Tempura in Taipei and Numata in Osaka are both worth your time.