Nakamura (Tempura) – Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan

Nakamura, run by Tomonori Nakamura, is located a few minutes by foot from Yaizu Station in Shizuoka, Japan. Nakamura-san trained at the famed Naruse and went solo in May 2023, rapidly gaining in popularity and earning Tabelog Bronze for the first time in 2025.

Nakamura is open Mondays through Saturdays (evenings) and lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays). I visited on a weekday for lunch, taking the Shinkansen down from Tokyo and returning immediately after the meal. The meal lasted approximately 2.5 hours, and the cost was ~30K JPY including 4 drinks, tax, and service. The base course is roughly 20K JPY.

Nakamura sources fish from Sasue Maeda, located in Yaizu, and vegetables locally. This is similar with the sourcing strategy at Naruse. All ingredients were of superb, peak quality. Every fish dish left me yearning for seconds. The vegetables were as close to perfect as I’ve ever had.

I’ve never visited Naruse, but it’s hard to imagine a level above this. I’ve been to Niitome in both Nagoya and Tokyo, and I would gladly choose Nakamura over it unless I’m going for a specific season such as Echizen crab season where I know I’m going to get a few whole crabs to myself.

I didn’t have any of the lavish ingredients you might have at Niitome or Takiya, but I didn’t miss them one bit. Here’s a summary of the course I had. I only snapped a few photos as I was trying to focus on the meal and not disrupt the other guests (none of which were taking photos).

Condiments:
* Salt (Sea Salt (Okinawa) and Rock Salt (New Zealand)
* Tentsuyu

Appetizers:
* Cauliflower and Hamaguri Soup
* Madai Sashimi
* Sawara Sashimi

Tempura:
* Tachiuo (large)
* Tairagai
* Asparagus (head)
* Gobou***
* Shiroamadai (large)
* Asparagus (base)
* Aji***
* Carrot***
* Isobeage (with Aji, Aoriika Gesu in Nori)
* Sawara (served like a sushi dish to be eaten by hand)***
* Fukinoto
* Shimesaba Sunomono
* Kinmedai with Cucumber
* Tachiuo (small and binded into a single bite)
* New Onion
* Shiroamadai (small, entire filet)***
* Satsumaimo
* Tendon (can choose size)

Desserts:
* Lemon (with a grapefruit-like taste)
* Sakura Mochi and Green Tea

Highlight dishes are asterisked. My favorite by far was the small Shiroamadai. So much flavor and cooked to perfection. The course volume was neither too large nor small.

The counter seats 7 comfortably. Service is cordial and friendly. Nakamura-san’s demeanor reminded me a lot of Hashimoto-san from Sushi Hashimoto in Tokyo.

Reservations are easiest by phone and are taken the first of the month for the following month. Weekends go first but even if you call after the first of the month, you can still get lucky with lunch or solo dinner spots. They do use Omakase but it seems only what’s leftover after taking phone reservations is pushed to Omakase on an irregular basis. This will likely continue to become a more and more difficult reservation.