Yoshitomo (好し智) is a tempura counter in Hamamatsu built around vegetables of unusual depth. The chef trained at Narumi, a renowned tempura house in Shizuoka. He works two pots of sesame oil, one hot and one low, so a whole sweet potato can fry slowly for up to an hour. From the eight counter seats you watch every piece go into the oil. The restaurant was selected for the Tabelog Tempura 100 in 2023 and 2025.
Nearly every review singles out the vegetables. Hamamatsu lotus root comes out so sticky it pulls threads, carrot and daikon taste almost like dessert, and the slow-fried satsumaimo is a highlight. The thick, fluffy beltfish (tachiuo) with shiso that opens the course is a repeated favourite. So is the kuruma prawn, served with its head and roe fried separately. Reviewers also praise a batter light enough to avoid heaviness and a mid-course salad that is more than a palate cleanser. The meal closes with a "mix" donburi of kakiage and egg.
Criticism is limited. Repeat visitors note that the course barely changes. A few mention a brusque older female server. Some feel the price rise from ¥8,000 outpaced the food, and occasional over-frying of the anago tail, the prawn or the kakiage is reported.
Lunch and dinner serve the same omakase course. Reviewers between 2024 and 2026 paid around ¥13,000 for it, and more recently ¥15,000 plus tax (¥16,500). One lunch with a single oolong tea came to about ¥15,500. A typical dinner with sake ran ¥18,000–21,500.
On value, most reviewers, including diners from Tokyo and Nagoya, call it remarkably cheap for tempura at this level. A minority consider the higher recent price merely fair.
- Booking: reservation only; walk-ins are not possible. Book by phone in Japanese (053-450-5510), often many months ahead. Some reviewers report that new customers were refused.
- Timing: everyone starts together at 12:00 or 18:00, and the door is unlocked only then. The meal takes 2–2.5 hours. Operating days are not fixed, so check with the restaurant.
- Getting there: 10 minutes' walk from the north exit of JR Hamamatsu Station, or 5 minutes from Daiichi-dori Station on the Enshu Railway. The entrance is hidden in an alley off the Yurinoki-dori arcade, on the ground floor of the Kojimaya Building.
- Payment: credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners) are accepted. Electronic money and QR code payments are not accepted.
- Seating: 8 counter seats. There are no private rooms and no private hire. Solo diners are welcome.
- Smoking: non-smoking throughout.
- Parking: none on site; use coin parking nearby.
- Drinks and language: the restaurant pays particular attention to its sake. No reviews mention an English menu.
